D@%$#ed tools of the self-serving capitalist greedhead scum class!!

Or was it the self-serving capitalistic redneck greedhead scum class? Capitalistic, scummy, red and greedy upper extremities class??

Look what those whacky tools of capitalism have gone and done. Could good news actually be on the horizon?  If this does manage to significantly reduce GTG emissions while simultaneously reducing the worlds dependence on oil from repressive oligarchic states, then what will the technophobes* and **dittoheads have to argue about? Could it possibly be that mankind might just pull this off, and that the world will not end The Day After Tomorrow ((c) 2004 20th Century Fox)

http://news.com.com/Want+alternative+energy+Try+pond+scum+-+page+2/2100-11386_3-6145197-2.html?tag=st.num

*By technophobe, I'm referring to a significant portion of the Anthropogenic Global Warming proponents that adhere to the philosophy that technological growth is one of the four pillars of the Earth's destruction (economic growth, population growth, and a furthering of the economic rift between rich and poor being the other three).

**You know who you are.

Regards,
Scott

Yep, pond scum. It's been proposed before.

Problem is, IIRC, it would require a pond the size of Texas to make any impact.

Here's a link that gives an overview

If you decided to run the entire US transportation sector on algae, the numbers in the c|net article come out to 14,000,000 acres, assuming the low end of 10,000 gallons per acre. That is certainly a large chunk of real estate, but certainly not a lake the size of Texas. It is also less than 20% of the land currently devoted just to corn production. In fact, from your own article:

Michael Briggs at the Univ. of N. Hampshire Biodiesel group estimates that using open, outdoor, racetrack ponds, only 15,000 square miles could produce  enough algae to meet all of the USA's ground transportation needs. Transportation accounts for 67% of US oil consumption according to the Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2005. We'll say more about the 15,000 square mile number below. If all of this land were in one rectangular piece, it would be 120 miles by 125 miles—about 1/7th of the area of the state of Colorado.

Perhaps more importantly, the algae farms run off of GTGs. Utilize algae farms to scrub the output of your hydrocarbon based electric power plants and reduce GTG output by up to 80%. If I am reading the statistics in the below (rather definitive) publication correctly, GTG emission from electricity production is well over 40% (55% * 86%) of the entire US GTG output. An 80% reduction of emissions in this sector would not be insignificant. Managing emissions in this manner does not appear to be economically crippling, either.

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads06/06Energy.pdf

But hey, I'm just a member of the capitalistic self-serving, scummy, red and greedy upper extremities class, so please feel free to deny my predictions of a less-than-Malthusian future.

Regards,
Scott

sweet-
Have a good weekend of debates, I'm off to fish

rockfish,

I owe you a PM. But in the meantime, enjoy a weekend of fishing.

littoral,

My comment regarding denial of the less-than-Malthusian future is not directed at you personally.


Regards,
Scott

But hey, I'm just a member of the capitalistic self-serving, scummy, red and greedy upper extremities class, so please feel free to deny my predictions of a less-than-Malthusian future.

Regards,
Scott

And sensitive too!   

*Note to self: If I want to have a rational discussion here, stick to fishing.*

I wonder if you could power a car with Kale... 

Z