It gets interesting when discussion turns to making biodiesel from algae rather than plant or feed stocks. Not only do you remove any moral questions regarding the re-tasking of food for fuel, but certain types of algae have the potential to be substantially more productive than plant based alternatives. The below chart (based on a a Univ of New Hampshire study) seems to bear this out.
Gallons of Oil per | Acre per Year |
| Corn | 18 |
| Soybeans | 48 |
| Safflower | 83 |
| Sunflower | 102 |
| Rapeseed | 127 |
| Oil Palm | 635 |
| Micro Algae | 5000-15000 |
Not surprisingly, many companies are looking to exploit this potential, including Algae Biofuels, a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroSun, Inc. On the surface, PetroSun (PSUD.PK), with their apparent experience in traditional energy markets (they own drilling rights in the US and Australia) has as much as chance as anyone to bring algae-based biodiesel to market.
But penetrating PetroSun's corporate structure is a struggle. PetroSun appears to be owned by the the Cronus Corporation. Web references to Cronus drop off shortly after the acquisition of PetroSun in 1997. A 1997 listing for Cronus indicates an OTC stock for a company with three employees. Information related to the ticker symbol (CRON.PK) is nonexistent. Finally, of the 4 key executives listed in general information for PetroSun, 3 appear to be from the LeBlanc family and the 4th is a former player for the Dallas Cowboys.
Like I said, there's a lot of potential in algae based biofuels. From an investment standpoint, however, I'm unconvinced PetroSun in the place to look for it though...
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There is also a company called GreenStar Products Inc. (GSPI.PK)that is actually going to build two algae to Biodiesel plants. It is in their latest press release. Plus, the CEO talks about it in a recent interview with SubPenny Radio. Very interesting stuff. The CEO mentions that the future of clean burning cars are diesel cars and even a future hybrid diesel! First time I heard of that! It really got me thinking about buying one.
On another note: I would like to know what you find out about GSPI.PK. It seems like you do good investigative work.
Consider GSPI.PK looked into...
Thanks for the article...it is heartening to see algae getting a lot of publicity, something I feel they deserve. I'm sure we all appreciate that there will be a there will be a lot of corporate and business interest in algal biodiesel ventures, and some of them will most likely bite the dust, but well, I guess that is part of any innovative process...
I co-ordinate Oilgae, a site that explores use of algae as a feedstock for biodiesel, and I can say with some amount of confidence based on my researches that algae appear to be one of the most qualified candidates for biodiesel production.
While the math certainly appears to favor algae, there are a number of issues to be overcome. These have to do with (1) choosing optimal algal strains, (2) issues faced in cultivation and harvesting (believe me there are some serious bottlenecks here), and (3) cost-effective methods to extract oil and transform it into biodiesel.
So yes, there is still a long way to go before it can be proven with certainty that algal biodiesel can be cost-effective on a large scale, but it is gratifying to see brilliant minds (not to forget VC money) getting into this field. And with institutes like MIT (Boston) getting into the act, I'm optimistic most of the above-mentioned issues will be overcome.
Time will tell if algae are our future source of energy, but for now, they certainly appear to have many of the qualifications required for the same.
Narsi from Oilgae - Oil from Algae
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