I imagine that your featured area link will change from Winter Center and go back to Global Warming once the warm weather returns, right? How convenient! I can forecast the future just like you.

using bio-fuels to propel our putt-putts is not really rocket science. The problem arises when we must apply simple economics to the idea. The current situation is untenable. The input of fossil fuels to produce bio-fuels is just about a wash. 1 gallon fossil fuel in = 1 gallon bio-fuel out. Additionally, our government must subsidize the bio-fuels industry to keep it operational. Pull out the subsidies and the bio-fuel industry will wither on the vine (no pun intended). Hopefully, the pond scum idea will be able to sustain itself based on it's own merit.
One tiny segment of the bio-fuels industry which is doing well on it's own merit are the companies which sell equipment which will burn used restaurant fryer oil in diesel engines. If we were to pressure our local politicians to offer a pickup service in their respective counties, for used restaurant fryer oil, that oil could be used to power the equipment in the county landfills. Currently there is a problem with this material clogging up municipal waste systems. I understand that used fryer oil leaves virtually no carbon footprint and is every bit as efficient as ordinary diesel fuel.
Conrad

Doesn't algae help fish and other wildlife in the pond or stream that we pull it from? Also if global warming and pollution is so bad wouldn't we be putting more pollution into our gas tank?

Cool, I can run my car on the slimy stuff growing in my old swimming pool!!! I could live with that. :-)

Thanks for the article...it is heartening to see algae getting a lot of publicity, something I feel they deserve.

I co-ordinate Oilgae, a site that explores use of algae as a feedstock for biodiesel, and I can say with some amount of confidence based on my researches that algae appear to be one of the most qualified candidates for biodiesel production.

While the math certainly appears to favor algae, there are a number of issues to be overcome. These have to do with (1) choosing optimal algal strains, (2) issues faced in cultivation and harvesting (believe me there are some serious bottlenecks here), and (3) cost-effective methods to extract oil and transform it into biodiesel.

So yes, there is still a long way to go before it can be proven with certainty that algal biodiesel can be cost-effective on a large scale, but it is gratifying to see brilliant minds (not to forget VC money) getting into this field. And with institutes like MIT getting into the act, I'm optimistic most of the above-mentioned issues will be overcome.

Time will tell if algae are our future source of energy, but for now, they certainly appear to have many of the qualifications required for the same.

Narsi from Oilgae - Oil from Algae

Narsi - Thanks for the comment. I wrote a piece in December about Oilgae.com, but it seems to have disappeared from our archives. I'll have to revisit that at some point, as it was certainly an interesting possibility for production of biodiesel.

Thanks Laura for the response, do let me know if there is any input you need with re to oil from algae, and I'll be glad to be of help

Narsi, Oilgae