Essay On Microalgae

Anything containing oil has been an increasing problem to the environment and to people. The toxicants that the oil produce harms people with their health. In the film Fuel, the director Josh Tickell talks about how crops can produce fuel, which produces cleaner air and is safer for the public. There are also other ways that Biofuel could be produced, such as adding human waste onto algae. The way that society utilizes oil is hurting the world, which in fact is affecting the human population and environment, but people only realize it until it is too late. With biofuel people would not be in danger and it could be produced without struggling to find oil.

In the United States biofuel production has grown a lot over the last two decades. In 1995 production was at 500,000 gallons, by 2005 it was 75 million gallons, and by 2006 it was at 224 million gallons [Biofuels ‘13]. The main plant used in the United States biofuel production was the soybean [Biofuels ‘13]. Currently 4 percent of the world’s demand for primary energy comes from biofuels. The more popular and more well-known hydropower only provides 2 percent of the world’s primary energy demand [Maugeri ‘10]. Most modern cars can use up to a 10 percent biofuel mix in their engines without any modifications, though some cars called flex-fuel can use 100 percent biofuel or gasoline [Maugeri ‘10]. One big advantage to using biofuel is that it produces a higher octane rating than gasoline which helps improve engine performance [Maugeri ‘10]. Biofuels currently cost a little more to make compared to gasoline at about a ten to eight ratio respectively [Sanders ‘10]. Hopefully with more farms producing the components for making biofuels hydroponically it can help drive the price down to where it can be competitive with gasoline and one day completely replace it.

The biofuel that I believe to be the best is biodiesel. Biodiesel is considered the best because it is Biodiesel, also known as methyl linoleate, has been tested in our labs and has shown that it is a very strong contender to be the best biofuel. First, biodiesel has a very low viscosity, meaning that it can pass through engines without much trouble, making biodiesel easier to process for the engine. Biodiesel also had the highest germination percentage throughout the experiment when put against other fuels at a consistent basis throughout multiple molarity concentrations. This shows that biodiesel is the most consistent source of fuel when put against others. Biodiesel also has a very high heat of combustion, and thus is more efficient because

The process to turn this kerogen into usable oil would cost tremendous amounts of money (Rhodes). With the threat of oil running out so soon, this raises concern for the world’s infrastructure, which heavily relies on oil. Even our food “runs” on oil. Soybeans grown and harvested in Brazil need to be transported by trucks, ships, airplanes, and trains. The equipment used for harvesting those soybeans also rely on oil (Rhodes). Ethanol is alcohol made from the fermentation of sugars by yeasts. It is an alternative to petroleum, as it can be derived from sources such as corn and plant sugars. Ethanol is usually derived from corn, barely, or wheat. The grain is first milled, then fermented with yeast to turn the starches of the grain into alcohol, then distilled and turned into fuel (West). Now, most gasoline found in the U.S has ethanol in it (“U.S. Energy”). Biodiesel is another alternative to petroleum, and it can be generated from vegetable oils, animal fats, recycled restaurant grease, and even algae. In fact, algae could be 10 or even 100 times more productive than traditional petroleum (“Algal Biofuels”). Although this seems like a likely solution to reducing petroleum usage and cutting down carbon admissions, this proves false. Mass amounts of farming can cause major damage to

Division of Biological Sciences and the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

Imagine a future in which you can fill your car with a liquid that has more mileage than gasoline and is just as biodegradable as sugar. This is the future of bio-diesel, and is well on its way to becoming the future we will live in. Bio-diesel has always been an area of study for researchers looking for renewable fuels, usually biodiesel is produced from plant waste, like corn husks, but recently it was discovered that bio-diesel could be produced with oils found in algae, which many people are considering to be our best option when it comes to alternative fuels.

Plants’ limitations frequently mean they have to contend with the environment using only the internal biochemistry. “Although they appear to be stationary, plants have rapidly evolving metabolic systems,” Weng says. “Now, we can gain an unprecedented view of these changes because of cutting-edge techniques like metabolomics, allowing us to analyze metabolites and other biochemical on a broad scale.” Weng’s laboratory focuses on enzymes, which is significant because enzymes play one of the most important roles in the process of evolution.

The energy created from algae for biofuels is slightly less complicated than that of its bacterial cousin. Algae composition, by weight, is half lipid oil. Scientists have been studying this oil for decades to convert it into algae biodiesel -- this biodiesel burns cleaner and more efficiently than any petroleum based fuel (Stefani Newman "How Algae Biodiesel Works" 2008). The algae used in the production of diesel are grown in large open or closed ponds, the most popular and

The use of biodiesel over the more common petroleum diesel has become a more frequent sight as people strive for an easier and more environmental beneficial way to run their vehicle with only small modifications needed. Unlike diesel which uses crude oil, biodiesel is made by converting oils such as waste vegetable oils to bio-diesel.

As a possibly alternative technology to petroleum refining, the bio-refining industry shows many advantages with the potential of improving the quality of soil, water and air [7]. Ideally, Bio-refining processes are able to convert different feedstocks including organic wastes from municipal wastes, agricultural wastes, plant residues and industrial wastes to fuels or chemicals [8].

Though both processes have been optimized and utilized in soybean, the species as a whole is generally regarded as recalcitrant to transformation [4]. In 2008, the most efficient protocol for transformation of soybean only saw a 16% success rate in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation [5]. Both methods also require a tissue culture step, the success of which is greatly dependent on genotype and tissue used as well culture techniques. On the whole, the transformation process is extremely low-throughput due to the

The oil from Jatropha curcas is mainly converted into bio-diesel for use in diesel engine

　　　 To date, when issues related to environment, GHG(Green House Gas), sustainability are gradually concerned, increasing people is pursuing new ways to lower down the negative effect exerted by modern industry. This also attracts government’s attention upon encouraging utilization and production of alternative energy and offering financial aid for some newly high-tech companies. One solution to deal with this global concern is finding or develop alternate fuels to replace the fossil fuels such as biofuels. The utilization of biofuels as energy for transportation is mainly driven by the over-depletion of oil, the concerns about energy consumption and the emission of Green House gas. However due to some barriers, the most recently used biofuels will replace around 10% to 15 % of fossil fuels in the field of transportation[2]. The merits and demerits of adopting corn Stover as a feedstock to produce biobutanol, bioethanol and biodiesel[2] as well as diesel, soybean biodiesel, gasoline and corn ethanol are studied based upon LCA[3](Life Cycle Assessment), a new method to analyze the influence of the ecosystem output in the life cycle. LCA is commonly used for measuring environmental influences of a product system, including different life cycle period[4] and [5].

The American philosopher, ecologist and scientist, Aldo Leopold introduced in his book ‘A Sand County Almanac’ in 1949 the idea of ‘thinking like a mountain’. This basic and simple phrase was later analysed and further explored by environmentalist philosopher Arne Naess. He stated that thinking like a mountain consisted mainly in realizing that humans are part of the biosphere, therefore, mankind should be able to recognize several responsibilities towards all other living things, thus individuals must think first in the long-term interests of the environment (Buckingham et al., 2011). Thinking like a mountain is how enterprises, industries, nations, communities and even individuals should approach the realization of projects that could impact the environment. One must ask the fundamental question of knowing exactly what are the necessities of the habitats in a long-term time so that the right decision will be taken. However, probably and quite certainly, environmental aspects were not considered as a priority back in the 20th century when industries increased their profit by using cheap and efficient resources (compared to other sources of energy) such as coal, oil and gas to supply the energetic demand. Unfortunately, the uncontrolled and unsupervised exploitation of fossil fuels drove mankind to a period of time where climate change is one of the environmental threats humanity will face in a close future. Climate

Our journey of moving from homogenous to heterogeneous, from bio-mimicry to synthetic biology, of rationally engineer microorganisms dates back to 1990s. Synthetic biology—unlike chemistry—is involved in the technical alteration of animate nature. Building on recent advances in genetic science and technology, synthetic biology aims to understand the molecular fundamentals of the metabolic and reproductive functions of simple single-cell organisms precisely. It thereby seeks to enable us thoroughly to manipulate and rearrange existing organisms in a standardised manner, and to equip them with characteristics that do not occur in nature.