Re: [APD] algae scrubbers

["Terry Barber" <terbarb at alltel_net>]

Stuart,

Not sure what is the big threat here.    I did quite a bit of reading on the
process and best I can tell -

Step1 - Grow Algae using stack gas >>> reduce CO2 emission from gas - feed
lots of happy algae
Step 2 - recover oil/biomass from algae >>>>this step would kill all the
algae btw

The second step entails well known and quite old technologies depending on
desired endpoint.

The algae mass could be fermented to ethanol
The algae species used can be selected to maximize the storage of oil within
the cell which is later extracted and converted to biodiesel using well know
transesterification reaction.

I didn't see anything about genetic engineering - but imagine that what they
would seek is a better oil producing species.

I don't see any threat at all with this technology.   Any overproduction of
oil - well it would be a vegetable oil.   I don't see that there would be
any problem with that actually if it was released......not like any natural
body of water would support a huge bloom of this vs. any other algae?

Also as an fyi - many gen engineered strains of microbes are most often also
engineered to be missing some nutrient pathway - for example perhaps the
cell cannot make its own of some essential amino acid - therefore you have
to feed it to the culture.  If it got lose, it's food wouldn't be in the
wild environment so the engineered strain dies.

So what do you see as the problem?   Just curious.

TerryB

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