Algae biofuels currently unsustainable says National Research Council (NRC) of the US National Academies, use too much water, energy, and fertilizer

10/24/12, “Large-Scale Algae Biofuels Currently Unsustainable, New Report Concludes,” Science Insider

“A report out today from the National Research Council (NRC) of the U.S. National Academies says that large-scale production of biofuels from algae is untenable with existing technology, as it would require the use of too much water, energy, and fertilizer. To improve matters, the report’s authors suggest that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which supports much of the research in the field, should conduct assessments of proposed technologies that examine sustainability at all stages of fuel production, including growing or collecting algae and harvesting their oil and converting it into transportation fuels.

Efforts to make biofuel from algae have been under way for more than 3 decades, and have picked up considerable steam in recent years. Algae’s big advantage is that unlike traditional biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn kernels or sugar, algae wouldn’t compete for agricultural land with food crops. It also has the potential to produce as much as 10 times more fuel per hectare, according to the DOE’s 2010 National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap.

But there are many different approaches to growing algae, such as growing the microscopic plants in shallow outdoor ponds, or in enclosed plastic tubes called bioreactors. And the industry is far from settled on a single approach.

No matter what the strategy, however, the NRC committee concluded that current technology scaled up to produce 39 billion liters a year—approximately 5% of U.S. transportation fuel needs—would require an unsustainable level of inputs.”...via Free Republic


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