NationStates Jolt Archive

Spanish firm claims it can make oil from plankton (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/sc_nm/energy_spain_plankton_dc_1)



MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish company claimed on Thursday to have developed a method of breeding plankton and turning the marine plants into oil, providing a potentially inexhaustible source of clean fuel.

Vehicle tests are some time away because the company, Bio Fuel Systems, has not yet tried refining the dark green coloured crude oil phytoplankton turn into, a spokesman said.

Bio Fuel Systems is a wholly Spanish firm, formed this year in eastern Spain after three years of research by scientists and engineers connected with the University of Alicante.

"Bio Fuel Systems has developed a process that converts energy, based on three elements: solar energy, photosynthesis and an electromagnetic field," it said in a press dossier.

"That process allows us to obtain biopetroleum, equivalent to that of fossil origin."

Phytoplankton, like other plants, absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. Scientists have examined the possibility of stimulating growth of the single cell plants as a means of reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

CO2, liberated by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, is widely held responsible for global warming.

Bio Fuel Systems said its new fuel would reduce CO2, was free of other contaminants like sulphur dioxide and would be cheaper than fossil oil is now.

"Our system of bioconversion is about 400 times more productive than any other plant-based system producing oil or ethanol," it said, referring to currently available biofuels made from plants like maize or oilseeds.

Bio Fuel Systems is working with scientists at the University of Alicante on the project. It has drawn up industrial plans to make the fuel and says it will be able to start continuous production in 14 to 18 months.


I guess...Sounds odd to me, but oddly possible.

I don't see why not, California is looking to cow farts and dog doo doo to power its cities.

Though, like oil from corn, I'd be interested in seeing how much energy it takes to make it.

Or what ridiculous amount needs to be gathered before they can power a lamp..

Spanish firm claims it can make oil from plankton (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/sc_nm/energy_spain_plankton_dc_1)






I guess...Sounds odd to me, but oddly possible.

Nothing odd about it. It's about as natural and basic a source as can be found. The trick is to successfully cultivate it in large amounts. If they can do that, then they just saved the human race. :)

The trick is to successfully cultivate it in large amounts.
Cultivate? Cultivate? What kind of hippie are you? Like I'm going to let a son or daughter of mine work on a slime farm. Hell no, we have to build a fleet of ships, go out there, and scrape those fucking oceans clean! Fucking bare, I tell you! It's been useless real estate way too long! :mad:

[/Neocon]

:D

Cultivate? Cultivate? What kind of hippie are you? Like I'm going to let a son or daughter of mine work on a slime farm. Hell no, we have to build a fleet of ships, go out there, and scrape those fucking oceans clean! Fucking bare, I tell you! It's been useless real estate way too long! :mad:

[/Neocon]

:D

I like slime farms. :)

Nothing odd about it. It's about as natural and basic a source as can be found. The trick is to successfully cultivate it in large amounts. If they can do that, then they just saved the human race. :)


But...but...but..i want to see the destruction of the human race:(...no fair -throws fit-

But...but...but..i want to see the destruction of the human race:(...no fair -throws fit-

I'm not talking, by the way, about global warming or other environmental issues. Though the fact that growth of plankton actually absorbs excess CO2 might shut some whiners up. I'm talking about the resource war that wold have eventually broken out once ground crude began running low.

But I know how you feel. I was rooting for the ants, myself. :)

Cultivate? Cultivate? What kind of hippie are you? Like I'm going to let a son or daughter of mine work on a slime farm. Hell no, we have to build a fleet of ships, go out there, and scrape those fucking oceans clean! Fucking bare, I tell you! It's been useless real estate way too long! :mad:

[/Neocon]

:D

You know that old saying, "If you spend your life fighting a dragon, you risk becoming the dragon."?

That was too good.

I'm not talking, by the way, about global warming or other environmental issues. Though the fact that growth of plankton actually absorbs excess CO2 might shut some whiners up. I'm talking about the resource war that wold have eventually broken out once ground crude began running low.

But I know how you feel. I was rooting for the ants, myself. :)

I once had an ant farm.

Those lazy bastards didnt grow shit!

I once had an ant farm.

Those lazy bastards didnt grow shit!

YAY! :D Mitch Hedberg. Nice.

I once had an ant farm.

Those lazy bastards didnt grow shit!
Mitch Hedberg! Alright!

He was the short joke genius...

But I know how you feel. I was rooting for the ants, myself. :)
The ants are organised, but cockroaches are sturdy and large.

I suppose it comes down to which insect species domesticates sports teachers.

Vehicle tests are some time away because the company, Bio Fuel Systems, has not yet tried refining the dark green coloured crude oil phytoplankton turn into, a spokesman said.

"Bio Fuel Systems has developed a process that converts energy, based on three elements: solar energy, photosynthesis and an electromagnetic field," it said in a press dossier.

"That process allows us to obtain biopetroleum, equivalent to that of fossil origin."

"Our system of bioconversion is about 400 times more productive than any other plant-based system producing oil or ethanol," it said, referring to currently available biofuels made from plants like maize or oilseeds.

Electromagnetics?! Cool so basically if you get some sea water, and some big ass magnet, (in sunlight) then you can make petroleum?!


It looks to me to be very early days yet, I would be surprised if this is as revolutionary as the article would have it seem. If it is, then this company is sitting on billions, possibly trillions of dollars. Chances are you do get energy "for nothing" with this method, but it takes bloody long. Growing a few thousand litres of ethanol from plants (few thousand hectares of land needed) takes roughly a year. What these guys seem to be implying is that they can produce the same amount of energy in less than a day. That sounds FAR too good to be true.

Spanish firm claims it can make oil from plankton (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/sc_nm/energy_spain_plankton_dc_1)
I guess...Sounds odd to me, but oddly possible.
Now if we can manage to keep plankton from dying out due to the acidification of the oceans, we might even be fine :)

Electromagnetics?! Cool so basically if you get some sea water, and some big ass magnet, (in sunlight) then you can make petroleum?!


It looks to me to be very early days yet, I would be surprised if this is as revolutionary as the article would have it seem. If it is, then this company is sitting on billions, possibly trillions of dollars. Chances are you do get energy "for nothing" with this method, but it takes bloody long. Growing a few thousand litres of ethanol from plants (few thousand hectares of land needed) takes roughly a year. What these guys seem to be implying is that they can produce the same amount of energy in less than a day. That sounds FAR too good to be true.
I don't know about plankton, but some other company is going for the same idea with algae and under the right conditions algae can grow exponentially large exponentially fast.

Am I the only one that's wondering why they're still developing new ways to extend our use of oil? Why don't the spend their time develping a better form of energy creation for automobiles?

Won't getting rid of the plankton have serious affects on the ecosystem?

Am I the only one that's wondering why they're still developing new ways to extend our use of oil? Why don't the spend their time develping a better form of energy creation for automobiles?
Oil is very useful for a lot of other things. Having an alternative way to get some is a good idea.

Won't getting rid of the plankton have serious affects on the ecosystem?
It can be grown in farms, no need to take it from the ecosystem.

Won't getting rid of the plankton have serious affects on the ecosystem?Hence why it isn't such a good thing for oceans to be acidifying.

It can be grown in farms, no need to take it from the ecosystem.

Ah, i see. Thats my argument out the window....

*runs away*

Am I the only one that's wondering why they're still developing new ways to extend our use of oil? Why don't the spend their time develping a better form of energy creation for automobiles?
It would take more time, energy, and money to create ways to entirely replace the myriad uses of oil than it would to extend the use of oil or turn other shit into oil equivalents without drilling oil itself. Oil is just hydrocarbons anyway so it is alot easier turning the everything else composed of carbon into oil than it is to develop a workable system not using hydrocarbons.

Won't getting rid of the plankton have serious affects on the ecosystem?

So we cultivate plankton in farms. That's not so hard to do. With the help of bioengineering, we could even make super-plankton.

Am I the only one that's wondering why they're still developing new ways to extend our use of oil? Why don't the spend their time develping a better form of energy creation for automobiles?

Don't worry about it. Seriously. We wouldn't be introducing any new pollutants (since they'd take the plankton consume what is already in the air). It's the reason that bio-deisel works too.

Awesome! Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. If they could pull this off, they'd be rich as Hell. (But then they'd probably get a monopoly lawsuit for making a profit...)

Don't worry about it. Seriously. We wouldn't be introducing any new pollutants (since they'd take the plankton consume what is already in the air). It's the reason that bio-deisel works too.

I think he isnt so much concerned about the pollution so much as the waning cache of fossil fuels we have left on the planet. Correct me if I am wrong.

Interesting. I remember reading about the incredible potential for biodiesel from algae but I didn't know about any methods for making oil from plankton One of the big benefits of using photosynthetic algae to produce fuels is that they use CO2 for making food; in some ways, the production itself helps to offset the greenhouse gases produced by burning them. Every little bit helps; if they can pull it off and make it economically viable then it will be a valuable energy option as the world's supplies of oil and gas approach their peak rates and decline. Even if it doesn't, research in to this field advances other options that might turn out to be viable.

We already have devices which turn plankton and krill into very useful prerefined oil. They are called baleen whales.

We already have devices which turn plankton and krill into very useful prerefined oil. They are called baleen whales.
Now all we need is a way to hunt them down and extract the oil from then..

Now all we need is a way to hunt them down and extract the oil from then..
A whale juice extractor!