Day 2: Fuel from barren land?
29th May 2014
Author: Geoff Maitland, IChemE President 2014–2015.
Biofuels are the cause of much debate and they are controversial in many parts of the world for their displacement of agricultural crops.
However, new analysis in the US suggests that biofuels from algae is more efficient than some other sources of biomass and, importantly, can be grown on untillable land. They believe that land not suitable for farming in countries like Brazil, Canada, China and the US could be used to produce enough algal biofuel to supplement more than 30 percent of their fuel consumption.
Utah State University researchers published their findings from an unprecedented worldwide microalgae productivity assessment on 26 May in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The findings suggest algae yields about 2,500 gallons of biofuel per acre per year. In contrast, soybeans yield approximately 48 gallons and corn about 18 gallons.
Their findings may help to bring clarity and stimulate investment in technology development and infrastructure to make algal biofuel a viable renewable fuel source.
ChemEng365 blog
Geoff Maitland launched this blog during his IChemE presidency in 2014. ChemEng365 features 365 chemical engineering successes and achievements throughout his year-long presidency.