K-Mac Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 http://cc.pubco.net/www.valcent.net/i/misc...igro/index.html This guy makes it sound like a done deal. Problem solved. While that sure would be nice, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Is anyone aware of the down side to this technology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Is anyone aware of the down side to this technology? Schools of fish piss-drunk from algae moonshine... (couldn't resist) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01503 Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 There are many ways to solve the 'energy crisis'. However, to the eco-freaks, the crisis is a way to push us towards the age deprived of technology. That's what's getting in the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenure Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 I'll tell you one thing potentially wrong: I had a whole search through their site and couldn't find one link to any article submitted to any journal about the efficacy of their new procedure. Now, I can understand, if you have a great new theory, you want to patent it, and patent law does allow one to both patent a new invention or process, and also publish it for semi-public consumption (and if anyone copies it, you have the right to kick 'em in the balls). So why no info, baby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Mac Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Yeah, that's why I'm skeptical. I got that video in an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'kian Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 You know what would drive the viros off the wall? Ethanol from oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Mac Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Schools of fish piss-drunk from algae moonshine... (couldn't resist) Ha ha! Although if you watch the vid, no fish in the system they've set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenure Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 That's because they're off at their Algaeholic's Anonymous meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Mac Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 God grant me the serenity... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01503 Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 I don't get how "giving in to a higher power" helps with alcoholism. In my experience, Reason is the only thing that has gotten me out of my problems. Christianity just got me frustrated with the Man Upstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 8, 2008 Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 That's because they're off at their Algaeholic's Anonymous meeting. So, that's why that fish told me he was a "friend of Gill" /end painful pun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Mac Posted August 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 (edited) I don't get how "giving in to a higher power" helps with alcoholism. Well, it doesn't. On a related note though, less the God stuff, the rest of the passage is actually nice. Rand writes about it specifically in Philosophy: Who Needs It. See The Metaphysical vs The Man Made. Edited August 8, 2008 by K-Mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McVey Posted August 8, 2008 Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 This guy makes it sound like a done deal. Problem solved. While that sure would be nice, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Is anyone aware of the down side to this technology? Just the economics, I think. We (Cognis Australia) use algae to produce beta-carotene, and I know of other algae-using outfits producing astaxanthin, so I know for a fact that the algae-processing technology he is discusing in general is for real. Whether he is personally for real or just a snake-oil salesman is another matter, but that can't be identified just from that video without further information on his particular processes and then revenues versus costs. Off the top of my head, he'd be chewing through quite a lot of electricity to run all those pumps. Another major expense would be his fertiliser. Natural gas is one of the two feedstocks used make ammonia with (the other being nitrogen from the air), and so the price of fertiliser has gone up in line with the general increases in all fuels over the last several years. A third cost would be the capital charges on all that equipment he has. That little pilot plant he had showed umpteen thousand dollars worth of PVC piping alone, and that was for a unit the size of large a bedroom. I shudder to think what the cost would be when scaled up to the multi-acreage he mentioned. We can do what we do, partly because we use the surface-method he discusses, but mostly because materials like beta-carotene and astaxanthin are worth a pretty penny - not even top-grade fuels come anywhere near the kind of price-ranges these materials sell for. The flip side is that the product content per algae cell is much less than the proportions he mentions for his fuels-producing algae, so maybe he can make money through volume. My conclusion is: I'd happily take his word for it that he has a functioning process, but I am skeptical on its profitability yet I can't dismiss it out of hand without seeing figures. JJM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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