Crunching The Numbers On Algal Gasoline

According to the US Energy Information Administration, US gasoline consumption is currently averaging (4-week rolling) 9.027 million barrels of gasoline per day, or about 379 million gallons (42 gallons per barrel). Thus, to completely replace US gasoline consumption, Sapphire Energy would need to “scrub”, at 100% efficiency, just over 83000 cubic kilometers of air per day. Certainly there is plenty of air available – this volume represents less than 0.02% of the volume of air in the first 1 km of atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is an enormous amount to process each day.

Of course, Sapphire Energy’s near-term goals are much more modest. As CEO Jason Pyle told Biomass Magazine, “the company is currently deploying a three-year pilot process with the goal of opening a 153 MMgy (10,000 barrel per day) production facility by 2011 at a site yet to be determined.” Using my fuzzy math above, that equates to a minimum of 92 cubic kilometers of air a day. Still seems like a lot.

So where will all of the CO2 come from?

Source: Watts Up With That? (Be sure and read the whole post over there).

Commentary

This is the one thing enviro-weenies seem to forget when they try to force alternative energy on us…it is usually not scalable the way oil is scalable. They make good supplemental sources of energy, but cannot replace oil completely.

I am very interested to see more research in this direction for producing fuels from biological sources that are not also food sources. Al Fin has a post on a similar effort that boasts 100,000 gallons of oil an acre production, which leaves me to ponder the possibility of lefties and enviro-weenies (often the same creature) will begin to oppose that process should it promise to free us from bondage to the Middle East, and perhaps create true wealth here. If it is successful…count on it as surely as the protests against wind mills and clean coal plants…which they championed a few years ago.

No Warming For Last Eleven Years

Charts are included at Watts Up With That? that show no global warming for last eleven years, despite a continued increase in CO₂ levels. Hmmm. No wonder lefties have been in a bad mood lately.

Al Fin has reported on the quiet Sun, which may be to blame for the recent slide of global temperatures, and we may be getting colder yet.

And, let me ask, where are the sunspots of Solar Cycle 24? And why are there so very few of them?

**update** 2.05pm

I forgot to add that there is already talk of calling the potential Solar Minimum we are entering the Landscheidt Minimum because he predicted it.

The more politically inclined among us might want to call it the Gore Minimum, or even the Gore-Hansen Minimum to mock those who were so very wrong about Global Warming, and man’s impact on global temperatures.

For more reading on Landscheidt, I suggest a series of five articles:

My Random March Through the Insanity of Solar Cycle Research (aka – Explanation of Landsheidt’s first paper, part 1)

Landscheidt Part 2

Landscheidt, Part 3

Landscheidt, Part 4 (Summary of Eddy’s “The Maunder Minimum”)

Landscheidt 5 (Review of Eddy’s “The Case of the Missing Sunspots”)

And most of his papers can be found at Landscheidt Cycles Research.

And, in all my “debates” with lefties one thing is very clear…despite all the evidence you may present them, they will always try to find another way to justify their attacks on Capitalism, Western Civilization, and try to get us to volunteer to change our lives to suit their political agenda.

Don’t let them. They are liars, and their ultimate goal is to destroy our way of life. And I will bet you something right now. When it starts to become obvious that the earth’s climate is going into a cooling cycle…they will continue their attacks on our way of life, despite being proven so utterly and completely wrong. That is one reason why they have started to refer to “Climate Change” instead of “Global Warming”.

I refer you to the excellent Gateway Pundit “Brrrr” series of posts chronicling the cooling earth. The latest one notes the record snowfall in Spokane, Washington!

Global Warming Update: Spring Snow in Great Bitain

In yet another blow to the climate orthodoxy dogma of “warmer, ever warmer”, an arctic freeze is descending over much of England and Scotland for Easter this year.

Arctic winds are forecast to sweep across Britain and bring widespread frosts over the Easter weekend, with snow in eastern regions….Conditions will be worst in Scotland and northern England but below-freezing temperatures and a sprinkling of snow are possible even in the South East – alongside strong winds and driving rain…..Helen Chivers, of the Met Office, said that weather conditions would deteriorate across the country this week. “It looks as though we are going to have a white Easter. We’ve got northerly winds sweeping in from Thursday,” she said. “We will be looking at nighttime temperatures of minus 2C (28F) or minus 3C in quite a lot of rural areas.”

Source: Al Fin

The Ice Age Cometh!

The Sun is Dimming and Scientists Fight for Funding to Study for Harbingers of New Ice Age

The sun is in a “funk”–unsure of what to do, when to kick into its new cycle: Solar Cycle 24.

The last such solar funk corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted, with intermittent spikes of warming, until 1715. While there were competing causes for the climatic shift—including the Black Death’s depopulation of tree-cutting Europeans and, more substantially, increased volcanic activity spewing ash into the atmosphere—the sun’s lethargy likely had something to do with it.

…The planet’s climate is a messy picture, with all sorts of influences and feedback cycles that need to be taken into account. In order to build more accurate computer models, scientists need to understand both anthropogenic factors and the link between the sun and our planet, Tapping says. To help get at the sun’s influence, he and other researchers connect Earth’s temperature with historic sunspot records of sky watchers from Europe and China, as well as with carbon-14 isotopes­—residue from cosmic rays delivered by the sun’s magnetic field—found in tree rings. To understand our role in climate change,” he says, “we need to understand the natural process.”….

Source: Al Fin, who has more.

Some Convenient Facts; Sun & Ocean Driving Climate, Not CO2

I am at a public terminal so I will be brief as I have 8 minutes left on my time:

The above video is something you won’t hear from the Chicken-Littles in the Global Warming Climate Change fear monger community. Below, is a portion of an excellent article:

Atmospheric CO2 levels have been rising over the past century, and show no sign of slowing down. The apparent association between rising CO2 levels and rising surface temperatures has fueled an apocalyptic media feeding frenzy over the past decade and a half–carrying many politicians and opportunists along with a gullible public. A more sober analysis appears to indicate that other factors may be much more important than the low level CO2 effect.

Source: Al Fin, where there are charts, and links to more information on this most dangerous hoax that is being perpetrated on our civilization.

Who Needs Oil or Ethanol When You Can Grow Algae?

…PetroSun BioFuels Refining has entered into a joint venture to construct and operate a biodiesel refinery near Coolidge, Arizona. The feedstock for the refinery will be algal oil produced by PetroSun BioFuels at company owned and operated algae farms to be located in Arizona….The refinery will have an annual production capacity of thirty million gallons and will produce 100% renewable biodiesel. PetroSun BioFuels will process the residual algae biomass into ethanol….Petrosun claims that Independent studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing in excess of 30 times more oil per acre than corn and soybean crops.

Source: Al Fin

The Free Market will find a way to solve our problems, if only the givernment will get out of the way…

Peak Oil: Meet Marcellus Black Shale

Al Fin has a post up you should read:

Up to 500 trillion cubic feet– US$ 1 Trillion — of unconventional natural gas deposits lie within the north Appalachian Plateau, within the US. New gas drilling technologies–spurred by higher prices for natural gas–make possible an extended era of natural gas in the US.

Android – An Open Handset Alliance Project

The much whispered about Google Phone is here, except it isn’t a phone…it’s an open-source code for use on phones that will be built by other people, sort of what Microsoft is for computers. This could revolutionize the cell phone industry beyond recognition by allowing many minds to create whatever they will.

Since I live without TV, I have no idea what kind of buzz this is generating in the Legacy Media, and only heard about it this morning when I got around to reading Al Fin, who has a good overview.

The overview led me to the following video:

which led me to the android developers you tube page and website and the Open Handset Alliance.

And a wiki. Yay!

We live in very exciting times!

Another Maunder Minimum On The Way ?!?

There is talk about of an extended solar minimum occurring, or perhaps a recurrence of a Dalton or Maunder type minimum. There are signs that the sun’s activity is slowing. The solar wind has been decreasing in speed, and this is yet another indicator of a slowing in the suns magnetic dynamo….One thing is certain, based on past climate history and solar history, if in fact the suns magnetic activity slows, or collapses and we enter a prolonged period of little or no sunspot activity, we’ll see a global cooling trend.

Read more about it at Al Fin.