Jets May Soon Fly on Algae Fuel.

Our pals at The Guardian had an interesting post this week about Pentagon researchers claiming to be just months away from cost competitive jet fuel produced from…algae. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has already proven they can extract bio-oil from ponds of algae for only $2 bucks a gallon. They now seem to be on track to refine that “green” oil into jet fuel for less than 3 bucks a gallon- or about what it costs to currently fill your car’s ravenous tank at the local pump.

Photo: US Air Force


Photo: Coptrol

Turns out that turning pond scum into fuel is technically a done deal, but the trick remains to mass produce it at a competitive cost. DARPA claims that bio-oil from algal oil is headed toward a buck a gallon, and that a large scale refining operation that can produce 50 million gallons a year would be up and running in 2011. That’s next year, in case you don’t have a calendar nearby. Algae ponds are expected to yield 1,000 gallons of oil per acre. Even bad boy Exxon, who in their own endearing way once dismissed biofuels as moonshine, has invested $600 million into research.


Photo: Flow

Algae farms are a good source for biofuels in several ways. They don’t stress food supplies or raise food prices, so that North Americans can drive biofueled cars without Central Americans skimping on tortillas. Algae can be grown on household waste and in brackish water. They also sequester carbon in the growth phase, releasing it when burned, which doesn’t increase the CO2 in the atmosphere. And the EPA claims that algal diesel releases less than half the CO2 that fossil diesel does, so both the source and amount of waste CO2 is improved.

Algae also has the potential to clean waste water as it blooms as the video below shows.

Photo: UCSD

Getting fuel from algae is not only better for the planet, but it can allow the military to produce algal fuel in the field, and eliminate one major reason for fighting wars in the first place - fossil fuels. A DARPA spokesperson said. "In Afghanistan, if you could create jet fuel from indigenous sources and rely on that, you'd not only be able to source energy for the military, but you'd also be able to leave an infrastructure that would be more sustainable."

So let’s hear it for pond scum, and military research that can help the planet rather than destroy it.