Michael
>You may be right, but isn't the Valcent-Vertigro (American) company fairly >advanced in this field? I really don't see why more attention isn't being >paid to this technology. Seems like a winner to me. Yes - as a matter of fact, the "lack of attention" which does appear to be strange, given the advantages -- this could be a deliberate strategy - since there are many companies: possibly the biggest players of all, who have NOT come out publicly with very much info (in recent years) on what they are actually doing now, or in the case of Shell - they have only exposed the tip of the iceberg (not a great analogy for a project in Hawaii). http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11db0836-82d2-11dd-a019-000077b07658.html Because of this hidden undercurrent of "under-published" efforts and R&D - which is likely to be out there, since there was lots more of it 5-8 years ago which seemed to disappear (but did it?) ... the algoil thing is poised to actually explode on the alternative energy scene... and possibly with special relevance to operators of coal-burning grid plants who are located next to the strip mines which supply the coal. Since these plants are already in the "earth-moving business" in a huge way - how costly is it for them to construct very cheap algae ponds in the former strip-mine site and then channel the CO2 over from the plant -- to feed the algae and increase the growth rate? That goes beyond win-win - heck it goes all the way to win-win-win-win when you consider the net effect of converting cheap but dirty coal into power, selling the power, then cleaning the operation up via the algae, instead of costly bag-houses, and then selling the oil and protein derived from the algae for much more than the coal cost to begin with, and all the while doing most of the work yourself, with paid-for equipment already on-site. Is there a greater opportunity available in the entire free-enterprise system? There are possibly 200 such plants in the USA above 500 megawatt capacity adjacent to strip mines or at least ample flat terrain. This is a gross simplification of a complex process, sure - but one can reasonably expect that once a "tipping point" in the technology-base has been reached for grid plants to do this with the normal ROI - then it will be a major societal shifting of assets - literally a paradigm-shift which could happen much more swiftly than DoE and assorted pundits suspect it will. Jones
