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| This is a picture of algae growing in the ocean. Some scientists believe that they can make transport fuel from marine algae. |
- Biofuel- a fuel that is made out of resources that are renewable.
- Algal Biofuel- Biofuel made from algae, which is a renewable resource.
- Transport Fuel- a fuel that is used to transport something or someone. Currently, fossil fuels are important transport fuels in the world.
- Algae- an organism that usually lives in wet or moist places like seawater or salt water. They consume carbon dioxide, and they can be either single celled or multi-celled.
- Marine Algae- an algae that lives in sea water
Summary:
Scientists hope to eventually be able to use the algae as a transport fuel. They want to achieve this because they think that it could be an alternate source of energy so that we would not have to rely so heavily on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, most scientists have been growing the algae for algal biofuel in freshwater. This is bad because clean fresh water is limited, and most scientists want to create a product that will not use up one of our limited resources. Scientists want to find a way to grow this in salty sea water because although salt water is not unlimited, it is more plentiful. One more plus to growing marine algae is that Carbon Dioxide that has been recycled can be used, and this is very good for the environment. There still are some problems with marine algae. For example, it requires lots of energy. In needs much energy from the sun, and fossil fuels must be used to make the fertilizers to grow the algae. Also, growing it is very expensive. Scientists are working on improving these problems. One way that they hope to make marine algae a transport fuel is by finding the conditions that make more fuel be produced, so that this process could become more efficient. Also, scientists are working on using less fertilizer so that less fossil fuels would be used in the process. In the near future, scientists do not see algal biofuel becoming a good fuel, but they think that it could become more practical and cost effective in the distant future. They believe that as fossil fuels become more limited, biofuels made from algae will be given more of a chance, and this type of fuel will begin showing up on the market as it gets cheaper and more efficient. Scientists hope that someday it will become a major transport fuel, and this is very possible.
Discussion:
I find it very interesting that scientists are working on alternate fuel sources. I think that this is good because the Earth will eventually run out of fossil fuels, and it is a good idea to have a backup fuel that is good for the earth, like algal biofuel. As well, I used to think that developing an alternate source of transportation fuel would be so easy, but now I understand that it is not that simple. I can see that it takes a long time to develop the perfect source of fuel. As seen in this article, it is challenging to develop the perfect type of marine algae to make transportation fuel out of.
Questions:
Discussion:
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| Many scientists are working on developing algae suited for biofuel in laboratories with techniques that look like this. |
Questions:
- If algal biofuel is such a promising source of fuel in the future, then why don't more scientists work on developing it to become a good transport fuel. I think that we need a backup fuel for when the earth begins to run low on fossil fuels.
- Can algal biofuel be used for other uses besides transportation fuels? Can it be used to fuel factories or to make fertilizer as discussed in the question above?
- Is it possible that we could completely replace fossil fuels with algal biofuels or other types of biofuel?
- It seems that algae is a strange place to get fuel from, so are there other sources of biofuel out there that have not been discovered?
- If we begin to use this alternate source of fuel, we are no longer using fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource, but we have not yet solved our pollution product that comes from burning the fuel. Is there a way that we can make the algal biofuel not only more environmental to make, but more environmental to use?
Citations:
-Article:
Extance, Andy. "Marine algae offer sustainable fuel hope."
environmentalresearchweb. IOP Publishing, 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct.
2010. <http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/44012>.
environmentalresearchweb. IOP Publishing, 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct.
2010. <http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/44012>.
-Images:
- http://www.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AlgalBiofuels02_l.jpg
- http://www.mdidea.com/support/algae.jpg
Format:
ReplyDeleteThe picture is nice it shows the reader exactly what the main topic of the article is. However, I think your discussion section should be written in paragraph form and not contain bullet points.
Content:
Overall, I think your summary is good. However, it is a bit long, around 3/4 of the original article itself. I think you can combine certain sentences and not go into as much detail sometimes. For example, rather than explaining each pro/con of algal biofuel, you could merely list them out. I completely agree with your discussion section: it is important to quickly find backup fuels before we run out of fossil fuels. I also liked your questions, they truly made my mind think. Great post!
I think that this is a very interesting article because before, I would not have thought about algal biofuel replacing fossil fuel. We definitely should find more backup fuels before we run out of fossil fuels. I also think that there might be other sources of biofuel that have not yet been discovered since algae is somewhat a strange place to get fuel from. Also, I don't think that using algal biofuel can truly replace all fossil fuels because we rely on it to much. Your summary was a bit too long, but it was well-written. Good job! =)
ReplyDeleteYou have a detailed summary, but it is very long. You are right that scientists should work on alternative energy, but you might have wanted to compare it with other alternative energy solutions including solar and hydroelectric. You might have added why algae power is so good.I agree that it is challenging to develop alternative energy fuels. That is one reason why we do not have very efficient solutions right now. You were very clear when talking about the negatives and positives of algae power, but you might have wanted to add if the negatives outweigh the positives. Your definitions were clear and helped me understand your article.Great post and I hope algae power will become a major fuel source in the near future
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