Algae as a Source of Renewable Energy

It was brought to my attention tonight in one of my labs that algae is being looked at as a potential renewable energy source. After lab, I googled the topic and saw that CNN did a segment on an algae greenhouse outside of El Paso, Texas. Glen Kertz, who is the president and CEO of Valenct products gave CNN a tour of the facility. He says that algae can be an alternate fuel as well as a way to deal with our issue of global warming. Alage is an extremely fast growing plant and is mostly composed of oil. This oil can potentially be used in cars, trucks, and planes. The algae is grown in a large greenhouse and is kept in vertical hanging plastic bags that are constantly moving. Kertz says that by hanging the algae vertically, a lot more surface area is exposed to the sun. This possible source of energy produces 100,000 gallons of oil from the algae in one year. Compare this to an acre of corn which produces 30 gallons of oil and an acre of soybeans which produce 50 gallons. A large part of the algae research is dedicated to finding out what types of energy each algae species can produce. Currently there are about 65,000 species of algae with a lot more to be discovered. OriginOil, Inc is a developer in the technology needed to transform algae oil into a renewable energy source. Their website offers a video that was featured on CNN's segment "Energy Fix". Three of the biggest challenges that OriginOil faces is 1.) Algae growth is dependent on calm conditions. The problems lies in that they somehow have to get CO2 and other nutrients into the algae without disturbing it. 2.) Algae needs a light source so facilities that grow algae need to find a cost effective way to distribute sunlight. 3.) To obtain the oil from the algae their cell walls must be cracked. So far, algae seems like it could be a promising renewable energy source. I'm sure, however, there is a lot more research to be done.