"Algaeus" Plug-in Prius

It's unfortunate that it appears there is a trend towards large MPG figures being being bandied about for PHEV vehicles without qualification since the numbers are meaningless in isolation. You can get any figure you want if you adjust the total driving distance. What you really want to know here is:

- how far do you drive to get a figure 150mpg?
- how efficient is the biofuel compared with regular fuel?

The data is not explicitly listed in the press release. To try to narrow it down, on their website there is a pdf that says: "For most people, who drive less than 25 miles a day, the ALGAEUS would allow a driving range of 150 miles per gallon".

So my assumptions based on this would be:

- algal fuel gives no more efficiency than regular gasoline, ie maximum 50mpg (since if it was more they would surely say so.)
- 25 miles = 150mpg

Based on this, you can get the numbers to add up by assuming a battery range of 17 miles with the remaining 8 miles on fuel at 50mpg, averaging out to 150mpg.

Given the press release is related to algal fuel, it is a pity that there is no explicit value given for the actual efficiency of the algal-based fuel. If anyone has any more information or I've overlooked something, please update.

 

Based on energy yields, Algae looks pretty promising as a biofuel ... despite the excess C02. Some of the farms (in the desert where you get lots of sun) are putting out a lot more oil per acre than any other oily growth.

IEEE Spectrum: The Power of Pond Scum: Biodiesel and Hydrogen From Algae

 

I think the real problem is the sheer scale required. Oil is such an incredibly energy-dense medium that it is going to take a lot of space to replace it with anything that is grown. For example in the article it says:

"...algae bioreactors covering less than 40 000 square kilometers—roughly one-tenth of the sun-baked state of New Mexico—could churn out enough biodiesel, bioethanol, and molecular hydrogen to completely replace petroleum as transportation fuel in the United States"

Although they are trying to make it sound small, to me that sounds huge. 10% of New Mexico? Look at the picture at the top of the article, then consider distributing that kind of setup across 40 000 square km of land. That is a lot of buildings, infrastructure, maintenance, workers etc.

Looking at it from the cost side, they say they can generate the equivalent of 1 barrel of oil per day per hectare (10,000 square meters or 100,000 sq ft.) To be price competitive with oil at $100/barrel you cannot sell the output for more than $100. So could you run that kind of setup over 100k square feet, sell the product for $100 per day and still be profitable? I don't know, but it doesn't sound like a lot of income for that amount of setup. Even if the price of oil rises significantly, I wonder what the breakeven point for the algal setup really is.

 

MartinW you raise a good point. Is the question whether pond skum oil can compete with petro fuel? ... or is the question whether algae oil will even HAVE to compete ... if/when peak oil issues becomes more profound ... or is the question more along the line of why bother with other bio oils, if algae oils beat the pants off other forms of bio oils.

As for the "less than 10% of New Mexico Deserts" statistics (to replace petro-oil for ALL U.S. transportation needs), I'm guessing that it isn't as overwhelming as it seems, when you factor all the millions of acres we presently use to 'farm' petro fuels. Besides the acerage of the oil fields, you also have to include:
Pipeline/right of way access acerage
Refinery acreage
military training acreage (to 'protect' our interests abroad)
military equipment storage / manufacturing acreage
Supertanker (and the boat yards / dry docks that build-maintain them) acreage
pro rata portion of highways used in fuel transportation acerage
etc
It'd be intriguing to compare how big or small the 'acreage-cost' difference between the 2 fuels really is. For example ~ Petro Oil has to be transported from where ever you find it (bottom of the ocean, politically unstable countries, frozen tundra, etc. (oil from) Algae, on the other hand, will grow where ever there's sun ... meaning WAY less in transportation costs. Heck, I'd love to drive a plugin Prius running off of solar EV & pond skum


.

 

You guys forgot to include water. Since it will be in the desert, Water will be evaporated at a very high pace. So those that mean water will be diverted to making oil instead of making food?

 

Many algae farms run 'closed loop systems' ... no evaporation ... as stated in the article posted to read.

.

 

How much energy is used to turn the algae into biodiesel ?
I'm very interested to know more; this looks like it might very well be a promising avenue for growing oil.

 

i firmly believe that oil and petroleum based products will never be replaced, at least in the foreseeable future, so maintaining a supply in one form or another is critical.

although i fully applaud the people responsible for advancing this technology, i am not sure that i would put the prime development of this "oil" source in transportation.