Thanks indeed to Mark for pointing out this process. Direct on-ship conversion would definitely be an immense plus, it's nice to see this scheme gathering momentum!
Now we should make sure there are no major drawbacks of course. Robin raised a possible marine life protection issue, indeed it seems eels and turtles use the floating sargassum entanglements as shelters for reproduction and migration respectively... can harvesting methods/periods be tailored to protect that? Or will general interest prevail? And can anyone enforce marine protection laws in international waters? The author of that patent application mentioned a possible algae property claiming problem in international waters (or will that be Bermudan waters?), anyone can comment on that? Michel P.S. Is this the right forum to continue this particular discussion BTW, or would creation of a specific list be in order so we don't make everyone here (sea) sick with it? Sorry for all the question marks... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jones Beene" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 4:50 PM Subject: [Vo]:Sargassum (or garbage) to gasoline in one step > Mark Goldes sent me the following information which > has direct relevance to any scheme to harvest the > bounty of Earth's oceans for transportation fuel. > > As many of you know, Mark has been involved in > advanced alternative energy thinking for many years > prior to "Ultraconductors" and MPI. Nearly forty years > ago, his Aesop Institute was a sponsor of the wind car > mentioned recently. The Institute, founded in 1973, is > a non-profit tax exempt organization with the goal of > finding alternatives to fossil and uranium fuels. > > BTW if any vortician out there knows of a good > candidate billionaire (i.e. the rare one with a social > conscience) - like the inimitable Richard Branson - > and which far-sighted-funder now sees the wisdom of > investing in advanced alternative energy projects, > like the one we are tossing around this week on > vortex, please have them contact Mark directly. > > Anyway, the new twist on the conversion of sargassum > into gasoline comes from George Huber of the > University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It is a > revolutionary method for making "green gasoline" from > cellulose: basically any sort of wood or grass... I > see no good reason why the same process would not be > ideal for ocean-derived forms of biomass. > > Results of Huber's research were published in the > April 2008 issue of ChemSusChem, a publication devoted > to environmentally-sound chemistry. "Breaking the > Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic > Biofuels," > > http://www.ecs.umass.edu/biofuels/Images/Roadmap2-08.pdf > > "We've proven this method on a small scale in the > lab," says Huber, "but we need to make further > improvements and prove it on a large scale before it's > going to be economically viable." > > Huber's method is a one-step conversion method, > whereas other processes like fermentation takes > several or dozens of steps. The new catalytic > technique involves a special reactor, in which the > feedstock undergoes "catalytic fast pyrolysis" the > rapid heating to 600 degrees centigrade followed by > quick cooling. By adding zeolite catalysts to this > process, gasoline range hydrocarbons can be directly > produced from cellulose "within sixty seconds." > > With cellulosic ethanol, your residence time is five > to ten days, which means you need to have a much > larger reactor for the same output and possibly could > not do this onboard the harvesting vessel itself. > > With the one-step process, conversion could probably > be accomplished 24/7, and immediately after harvesting > and dewatering, and in series so that feedstock is not > stored- only finished product (gasoline for instance). > > > As any sailors may appreciate, the available space > onboard even a large catamaran is limited due to the > narrow hulls. Here is a smaller version of what a ship > might look like without the harvesting apparatus > between the hulls: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_class_research_ship > > All of this varied information, none of it > particularly unique (since even the Huber pyrolysis > process has been known in prior art) is starting to > come together into a highly "doable" package for one > near term solution to a sustainable and carbon-neutral > future... > > Jones > > > >
