Emerging out of the boondocks, San Diego’s Biotech Beach thrashes those doubters who generally sideline bio-fuel production from algae as a beachcomber’s fantasy. Nothing will come out of nothing is what they hold and believe. However, we have seen bio-tech researchers thronging like bees to extract whatever possible oil is out there. The 2009 Algae Biomass Summit attests it since there are the likes of Exxon Mobil Corp., Synthetic Genomics Inc. and Sapphire Energy vying for “nature’s solar panels.”
To some extent, the deniers are right if you consider the whopping $20 to nearly $33 a gallon production cost of algal bio-fuel at present. On the other hand, if we look at a larger picture with an acute shortage of conventional fuel pressing hard to devise alternatives, it is prudent to harvest and harness the plethora of natural oil in the form of algal biomass. Hence, the investors are keeping up with their involvement.
The Algal Biomass Organization, the organizer of the 2009 Algae Biomass Summit, seeks to identify newer strains and harvesting methods as part of its research. The University of California at San Diego, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Salk Institute for Biological Studies and various biofuel companies have lent a hand in its endeavors. Well positively, San Diego is providing them with a breeding ground to keep going with their exploits.
Via: Kentuckiana Green