Recently, President Obama has received negative reports for his support of alternative energy. However, I took a closer look at the clean energy industry R&D and financial data which shows that 17% or 2 million barrels per day of crude oil imports can be replaced by algae biodiesel within the next 3-5 years, says author James Rickman, CEO iHuman Evolution. President Obama is correct in his algae biodiesel energy assessment and the findings in my article prove it.
In fact, the algae renewable energy technology is ready now. If a national bi-partisan initiative were focused on algae oil development, it could be sold for about $2.28 per gallon using existing gas pumping stations throughout America without any government subsidies.
Several leading energy R&D companies like Solazyme, Dyadic, OriginOil , BP Renewable Energy , Synthetic Genomics and CODEXIS are ramping up commercial production to meet a rapidly growing demand. A key component is the use of accelerator enzymes that have valuable fermentation applications in biofuel, pharmaceutical, petrochemical and agriculture industries. In many respects, the development of clean technologies like algae oils are the obvious answer to America becoming energy independent and building a sustainable economic future. The Department of Defense is already implementing an aggressive strategy to reduce petroleum use 50% by 2025 (DOD Energy Road Map).
Calculations show that 140 billion gallons of biodiesel could replace 100% of the annual petroleum transportation fuel consumed in America. This equates to about 10 million acres of land growing algae that yield 14,080 gallons of biodiesel per year (UNH Physics Dept). Currently, the United States imports 11.8 million barrels of oil per day thats 49% of the total petroleum consumed by Americans. Oil imports cost the U.S. over $380 billion annually not counting environmental pollution damage caused by fossil fuels that many calculate bring the real figure to more than $630 billion per year. America is sending our money to OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela that account for about 51% of total U.S. imports of petroleum.
By investing in renewable energy we create high wage jobs in America while helping to reduce harmful CO2 pollution. One of the biggest challenges America faces is finding a sustainable energy that can be sold using the current fuel distribution system like you’re standard gas station. That’s were an alternative energy such as algae biodiesel that can be pumped from any local gas station has a clear advantage over other renewable energy options when it comes to transportation.
The truth is that in order to achieve long-term security and energy independence, the United States must quickly implement a collaborative plan to utilize a mix of domestic natural resources including natural gas, algae biodiesel and biomass materials, solar, wind, hydro-electric and clean coal technologies. Over time, non-renewable oil imports will be phased out by 2025 leaving cleaner burning energy alternatives to provide the majority of power for America. Such a strategy will keep hundreds of billions in revenue here in the United States to reinvest in projects like rebuilding the infrastructure and opening up affordable high quality education to our people, says author James Rickman III, Director iHuman Evolution.
Historically, the oil rich Middle East region has been a very unstable area which has only strengthened the push to transition away from non-renewable energy. Case studies show that a 130 acre US farm using waste water to grow algae could produce 300 barrels of gas per day. Therefore, a land mass roughly the size of South Carolina that is well located for sunlight can easily achieve large scale algae oil production enough to replace imports of petroleum used for transportation by 100% within the next 10 years.
States like Nevada, Arizona, Texas and California have vast tracks of land that stretch for miles in desert like regions that are unused. For example, there are 25 million acres of desert in California and Nevada. It is estimates that by 2020, several million of barrels per day of biodiesel will be produced in American communities generating thousands of local jobs. Click Read Energy Opportunities Report 2012
For those that argue fossil fuel oil is plentiful, the scientific data and geographic satellite mapping confirms that the vast majority of remaining non-renewable shale oil reserves are very deep in the ground and much more expensive to drill and refine with an increased risk in the potential of natural disasters (see pink areas in the map below indicating very deep reserves that are expense to reach). This is the reason we see an increase in oil prices at the pump also driven by global middle class population explosions in emerging markets such as China, India, South America and Africa.
Going forward any cost benefits of petroleum versus alternative energy is negligible therefore we should elect cleaner burning alternatives as the long-term investment option for America to develop new industries. We should also move swiftly to develop SMART grid energy efficient networks that can be managed securely via mobile device applications. Click Here Read SMART Grid Report
In fact, Michael Briggs, University of New Hampshire, Physics Department released a detailed study that calculates assuming a 250 acre farm on average. If the annual yield is only 10,000 gallons per acre of algae oil, then the worst case scenario for feedstock is $.6625 times 42 = $27.83 cost per barrel of biodiesel equivalent to crude oil. Click Here Read Michael Briggs UNH Physics Dept. Study
Already, the US Navy and USAF is converting military aircraft, vehicles and ships to burn either petroleum or renewable biodiesel based on algae oils (DOD Clean Energy Strategy). Nearly every major player associated with the energy, transportation and agriculture industries is implementing clean energy and/or biodiesel based technologies including Boeing, Honeywell, Daimler, Ford, Caterpillar, Volkswagen, General Electric, DOW Chemical, Unilever, Roquette, ExxonMobil, and other leading companies worldwide.
"Because oil is traded through a global market, the U.S. economy will continue to be vulnerable to global shifts in the supply and demand for oil for the foreseeable future, regardless of how much oil or what percentage of its oil the United States imports. However, these policies, if adopted, should serve to reduce the national security risks the United States faces from importing oil.” Rand Corporation
One of the primary advantages of using algae oil is that it works in existing Gas Stations and Vehicles. Most solutions to the alternative energy problem require massive new infrastructure.
- Hybrids require new cars with toxic batteries.
- Hydrogen cars need a new fuel network.
- Electric cars need their own recharging stations.
"The biofuel jet fuel (JP5) mixtures that have flown have performed very well … slightly better than the average jet fuel." Jean Ray, Boeing researcher
For 2011, about 802 million gallons of biodiesel were produced all across America, including in Iowa, Florida, and Washington. Although, the biodiesel industry is still developing in the US, it was more than double 2010 production of 315 million gallons, and well above the past record of 690 million gallons in 2008. Europe is a leading consumer of biodiesel with a total EU27 biodiesel production for 2010 was over 9.5 million metric tons, an increase of 5.5% from the 2009 figures. Click Here Read European Biodiesel Report
It is realistic than as President Obama has proposed to develop alternative energy biodiesel refined from algae oil systems that can be seamlessly integrated into the current fuel distribution system says author James Rickman III, Director iHuman Evolution. Learn more about the production of algae biodiesel renewable energy in the infographics below. Click Here also checkout my Electric vehicle Report 2012
