I have followed with keen interest for years the rapid pace of advancement of engineered algae within the context of oil production and reclamation. Indeed, it was more than 20 years ago, after a major oceanic oil spill, that I learned that types of algae can be deployed on the surface of the open seas which quite happily eats the oil and leaves behind a benign byproduct which degrades harmlessly in salt water.
Beginning about 5 years ago, I learned of the promise of algae as a source of petroleum from various sources, including agricultural waste and urban effluence. Now, in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in America’s history, all of the aforementioned interests can be unified.
My friend Dave Hoffman of Oregon has provided me with exciting calculations of how algae can be deployed to the seas to solve our most pressing problem. Arguably the best news is that the algae can do its work right on the surface of our bodies of water.
To replace America’s domestic production of petroleum, we would need 15,000 square miles of surface area upon which harmful substances could be converted to petroleum or chemical precursors thereof, producing few if any harmful effects in the process. Granted, such a vast area would cover almost all navigable coastal waters of the United States but the statistic nonetheless provides encouraging insight into just how relatively minor a project it would be to clean the Gulf of Mexico and simultaneously begin a pilot project for harnessing energy stores along the surface of our waters rather than dangerously beneath them.
Algae for bio fuels and oil production or reclamation is an idea whose time has come and I urge every government of the world to embrace it zealously.
Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line
Corbett Kroehler
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