Price-SantoDomingo

﻿ MARK PRICE, JAY SANTO-DOMINGO CHEM II WIKI  ENERGY AND WATER WIKI

﻿ WHAT IS THE PROBLEM ?

The world is most likely running out of hydrocarbon fuel (oil). Oil basically is the driving factor for our GLOBAL ECONOMY !! There are predictions that the world's oil supply will be depleted in as little as 6 years. Other estimates say in between 20-30 years we are going to be in big trouble. Basically life as we know it will change forever. An ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCE must be developed soon. []. This video on the topic of PEAK OIL is a great way to explain the problem at hand and some steps of what we can do to start helping.

WHAT IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE PROBLEM ?

The driving force of the problem is that almost every part of our everyday lives is somewhat influenced by oil. From the plastics that are made from oil, to the groceries that we have in our fridge; all have something to do with oil. In the last century alone, the population of the world has increased from 1.5 billion to 6.5 billion. This is due to the ability of food and medicines now being delivered to all locations on earth. This was done from transportation due to the burning of hydrocarbon fuels. Pesticides are made from fuel oils. Fertilizers are made from natural gas which is made from oil. Water is pumped to farms by electrical/oil pumps which are powered by coal. This coal is shipped to all over the world by hydrocarbon fuel oil burning transport ships. FOR EVERY 1 CALORIE OF FOOD CONSUMED ON EARTH - WE CONSUME 10 CALORIES OF HYDROCARBON FUELS. Fuel shocks have occurred within the last thirty years. This is when the PEAK OIL (oil produced from the 1920's to the 1970's) hit a decline in the 70's. Fuel oil prices went sky-high. This again occurred in the 80's. The fuel that will be available in the future will be very limited and very, very expensive. The United States was a huge exporter of the world's oil supply up until the 70's. Now we are the world's biggest importer of petroleum based products. The US has a 2% stock pile of the world's fuel oil surplus. This would be a good thing if the United States didn't use 25% of the world's oil supply on an annual basis. The fact is that our global economy and our lives are powered by fuel everyday, and if we do not get this oil ; our civilization will begin to unravel before our eyes. A frenzy will ensue when people are unable to get to work, pay for gas, get food from the grocery store and just basically support their own existence. This will be a catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. This may be scary enough for most people out there. But the truth is that the combustion of fossil fuels is also leading to drastic climate and global repercussions. The production of greenhouse gases, the greatest being water vapor followed by CO2. These are two of the biggest products of the combustion of fossil fuels and the burning of coal for power plants. Basically the gases get trapped in our atmosphere and reflect heat back to the earth. This leads to the climate change and the deforestation of the planet. The ice caps are beginning to noticeably retreat and we are cooking ourselves. This is another good reason to find some other way to power our world and our lives.

[] WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING / NOT DOING TO HELP THE SITUATION ?

People need to start taking action now. There are basic steps that can lead to a slowing of the depletion of reserves until an alternative fuel source can be found/developed.

 <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">WHAT IS OUR SUGGESTION TO THE ENERGY PROBLEM ?
 * 1) CONSUME LESS - this includes car pooling to destinations, other methods of travel ; walk, bicycle, use public transportation. Buy a hybrid car if you are in the market for a new vehicle. This also includes limiting your uses of water and do not buy/eat an overabundance of food or consummable products. Use only what you need
 * 2) CONSERVE MORE - the fuel reserves will benefit from corners cut in your life. Do not use excessive amounts of water, bathing, brushing teeth etc
 * 3) GROW / BUY LOCAL - try growing some of your own food needs. Support local growers and save fuel in transportation processes.
 * 4) GET OUT OF DEBT
 * 5) ESTABLISH INDEPENDENCE - be responsible for your own needs and try to make ends meet. Solar power, natural insullation for homes to cut heating costs
 * 6) SPREAD THE WORD - get others involved in saving and recycling efforts
 * 7) COLLABORATE - with others on ways to save energy and reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumption
 * 8) JOIN A FUTURE NETWORK - and show your support for a future with fuel alternatives

__//** BIODIESEL FROM ALGAE **//__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Algae is above all other potential bio-diesel products<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> because they are easy to grow and can be manipulated to produce huge amounts without disturbing any natural habitats or food sources. All algae needs is water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide. Biodiesel makers claim they'll be able to produce more than 100,000 gallons of algae oil per acre per year. There are three methods to produce oil from algae the oil press method, the hexane solvent method, and the supercritical fluids method. The oil press is the simplest and most popular method. It's similar to the concept of the olive press. It can extract up to 75 percent of the oil from the algae being pressed. The hexane solvent method combined with pressing the algae extracts up to 95 percent of oil from algae. First, the press squeezes out the oil. Then, leftover algae is mixed with hexane, filtered and cleaned so there's no chemical left in the oil. The supercritical fluids method extracts up to 100 percent of the oil from algae. Carbon dioxide acts as the supercritical fluid when a substance is pressurized and heated to change its composition into a liquid as well as a gas. At this point, carbon dioxide is mixed with the algae. When they're combined, the carbon dioxide turns the algae completely into oil. The additional equipment and work make this method a less popular option. Once the oil's extracted, it's refined using fatty acid chains in a process called transesterification. Here, a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide is mixed with methanol. This creates a biodiesel fuel combined with a glycerol. The mixture is refined to remove the glycerol. The final product is algae biodiesel fuel. The most natural method of growing algae for biodiesel production is through open-pond growing. Using open ponds, we can grow algae in hot, sunny areas of the world to get maximum production. While this is the least invasive of all the growing techniques, it has some drawbacks. Bad weather can stunt algae growth, as can contamination from strains of bacteria or other outside organisms. The water in which the algae grow also has to be kept at a certain temperature, which can be difficult to maintain. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: super;"> Vertical growth/closed loop production has been developed by biofuel companies to produce algae faster and more efficiently than open pond growth. With vertical growing, algae are placed in clear plastic bags, so they can be exposed to sunlight on two sides. The bags are stacked high and protected from the rain by a cover. The extra sun exposure increases the productivity rate of the algae, which in turn increases oil production. The algae are also protected from contamination. Other companies working to produce algae for biodiesel are constructing closed-tank bioreactor plants to help increase oil rates even further. Instead of growing algae outside, indoor plants are built with large, round drums that grow algae under ideal conditions. The algae are manipulated into growing at maximum levels and can be harvested every day. This yields a very high output of algae, which in turn yields large amounts of oil for biodiesel. Closed bioreactor plants can also be strategically placed near energy plants to capture excess carbon dioxide that would otherwise pollute the air.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Quote

“The use of vegetable oil as fuel might seem of no importance in our times. However, such products can gain importance in the course of time and reach an equal status compared with today's petroleum and these coal-tar products", said Dr. Rudolf Diesel in 1912.

Even in 1912 they knew they were going to run out of natural resources eventually, it's just sad that only recently we have started to do something about it. We are only in the testing stages of biofuels, by the time we start mass producing biofuel it will pretty much be to late. The weight of the worlds fuel problems are on our shoulders, we will see the day when we either run out of natural resources and have no way to produce energy or we come up with a new way to produce fuel.

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<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">HOW DOES IT WORK ?

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">References **

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http://www.moraassociates.com/publications/0707%20Biodiesel%20from%20algae%20oil.pdf