New Voice

You might recall from a while back my look at some of the new technologies being introduced to tackle the global issue of climate change. Maintaining that focus I thought I would comment on the continued expansion of biofuels, of which so many potential sources have be found that it would take a veritable ocean of web space to begin to mumble around the fringes of this tumultuous field.  Needless to say, one specific element has piqued my interest.  A number of years ago (the eighties, a shockingly interesting time for novel scientific endeavour with sadly many of the original ideas produced petering out by the end of the decade), some scientists noted that algae (an awful looking autotroph, most of us would know them as seaweed) was a possible candidate for renewable energy given its photosynthetic machinery, and its tough and resilient nature.  How they could operate it as an energy source was derived from the fact that algae produces oil, during its processes, which, not being fossilized, is clean of carbon. But, as was the way of the period, this theorizing failed to gain enough credence and by the end of the decade with little material investment the energy source failed to acquire backing.  As time passed and the requirement for alternative energies became notably stronger and all potential biofuel sources received further attention, it seems that algae was viewed as too difficult, and expensive, to develop. Until some far-reaching science was manufactured that changed its potential. (continue reading…)