[Sustain] More Biofuel Madness In SF (This Time Algae)

[Eric Brooks]

Hi all,

I regret to report yet another tale of biofuel madness from San 
Francisco; this time regarding algae.

The story below (which actually naively promotes as good, an incredibly 
dangerous and frankly ridiculous idea) highlights just how much of a 
Frankenstein's monster algae based biofuel will become if we let it 
proceed any further. (Also note my public response comment at the end, 
for a concise blurb with which to challenge the nonsense proposed in the 
article..)

http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=8950

<http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=8950>


  The algae solution

/GREEN CITY: The San Francisco Bay may soon host a dramatic new 
environmental project/

By Gabrielle Poccia

The San Francisco Bay may soon host a dramatic new environmental project 
that backers say could solve three problems at once: clean wastewater, 
remove carbon from the atmosphere, and produce biodiesel fuel. Yet it's 
gotten remarkably little attention.

"For the most part, people are just ignoring me," says Jonathan Trent, a 
researcher at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, who is one of 
the driving forces behind the project.

The new technology Trent and his colleagues have created is called OMEGA 
(Off-shore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae). The idea is to grow 
large colonies of freshwater algae in what amounts to large plastic bags 
floating in the bay.

Wastewater from local sewage plants and carbon sequestered from power 
plants would provide food for the algae, which then produce oxygen and 
freshwater along with an oil that can be refined into fuel.

The OMEGAs are giant semi-permeable membranes; the design allows 
freshwater in but keeps saltwater out.

Using algae for biofuel isn't new --- there are a number of algae farms 
on land. But they require large amounts of real estate and fresh water 
and enough electricity to keep the water moving.

In this case, light from the sun provides the energy, and the motion of 
the waves stirs the algae around.

Trent is looking at ways to collect the freshwater that gets released by 
the OMEGAs --- potentially another major breakthrough for a state 
desperately short of water.

Trent has shopped his project all over the world and many countries have 
showed interest, but he believes San Francisco is the perfect fit. "The 
people of San Francisco really have an enlightened attitude and are 
aware that something needs to be done to fix the problems we've 
created," he told us. "It's a great place to demonstrate to the world 
that this is a feasible technology."

The OMEGA project still faces political hurdles. Trent recently survived 
an internal audit. And U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) has been critical 
of federal spending for biofuel projects.

But the scientist isn't discouraged. "Actually I'm glad we have been 
audited," he said. "I've been able to get attention and show that not 
only does our system not use water, it actually produces clean water."

On July 29 the project received approval for an $800,000 grant from the 
California Energy Commission. According to Trent, the approval for the 
grant was ready for approval months earlier, but Gov. Arnold 
Schwarzenegger wanted to put it on hold because of the budget crisis.

The CEC grant is coming just in time. A previous grant, from Google, was 
due to run out at the end of September. "We're optimistic that if people 
see that the CEC has invested, maybe others will want to invest," Trent 
said. "But we need more than just financial resources --- we need brain 
power as well. The next step is to find engineers to really make this a 
workable option."

Trent would like to get a working model up and running within the next 
18 months and hopes to see a full-scale operation in place in five years.

San Francisco may be the first city to host OMEGA. San Francisco Public 
Utilities Commission staffers have met with Trent and are cautiously 
optimistic. "Although it is just at the preliminary stages of 
discussion, it doesn't dampen our excitement about the project," said 
Tyrone Jue, spokesperson for the SFPUC. "We have to know what good we 
will get out of it and if it is feasible in this area."

Environmentalists caution that it's far from a perfect solution to the 
planet's problems. Sierra Club staffer John Rizzo notes that "biofuels 
themselves are not a good solution. It's a good bridge, but they are 
still burned and create carbons that are bad for the planet." In the 
short term, however, it sure beats drilling for oil off the California 
coast.

Wednesday August 5, 2009

( 1 comment | Comment on this article 
<http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=8950&catid=&volume_id=398&issue_id=443&volume_num=43&issue_num=45#cmt>) 

*brookse* on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 11:18 PM

You have got to be kidding...

You are actually asking readers to believe that covering the bay with 
giant plastic bags, filled with sewage and genetically engineered algae 
(yes - genetically engineered - just do a good web search on algae 
biodiesel and you'll discover this little inconvenient reality); bags 
which also separate salt from the baywater leaving it unnaturally saline 
and therefore deadly to wildlife; bags which of course will end up 
leaking their toxic genetically engineered soup into the bay; you are 
seriously asking us to believe that this is actually a good thing...

Readers, for the straight story about the incredible screwed-up-ness of 
the recent biofuel craze and how it is drastically messing up our planet 
even more quickly than global warming, go to the Biofuel Watch web site 
at: [link] <http://biofuelwatch.org.uk/>

Eric Brooks
San Francisco Green Party Sustainability Working Group

*Comment on: The algae solution*

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