Article #4 Better of Scummed!

• Microalgae - plant-like microorganisms that can produce oil; hence, replacing transport fuel

  • common pond scum (Lumot)
• Microalgae makes food through photosynthesis

  • directly capturing CO2 and O2 is released in the air
• Chlorophyll

  • found in microalgae that makes them green
  • absorbs energy from sun rays that drives the conversion of CO2 ultimately to sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids
• The fatty acids are the fats which scientists extract from microalgae for further chemical reactions in the lab to obtain a refined transport fuel with much less harmful emissions than fossil fuel.
• Biofuel or Biodiesel - fuel derived from living organisms like microalgae or crops
• Crops has limitations since quality is not suitable for jet fuel; need vast lands; affect world food supply
• Microalgae

  • can rapidly multiply within 24 hours; can be mass-produced; provide greater oil yields
• Raceways - open ponds where microalgal oil can be produced
• Photobioreactors

  • Dr. Yusuf Chisti
  • enclosed circular vessels to provide a clean artificial environment in which light intensity, CO2, oxygen, temperature, pH and other parameters are meticulously controlled to ensure optimum conditions for the microalgae to grow buff and multiply at a faster rate and yield abundant amounts of oil. 
• The world fossil fuel reserves are not limitless resources; they cannot be replenished, hence fossil fuel is referred to as non-renewable energy. 
•  Biodiesel is non-toxic and four times more biodegradable, meaning it can be decomposed by nature and bacteria, much faster than diesel derived from fossil fuels.
• Botryococcus braunii

  • single-celled superscum which clusters in colonies produces a higher amount of a substance called hydrocarbon, which closely resembles the various contents of crude oil from fossil fuels, than the fatty acids that other microalgae produce
• Botryococcus braunii

  • pumps oil out
  • Dr. Arthur Nonomura
• Dr. J. Craig Venter

  • 2001: published complete sequence of the whole human genome(the entire genetic material of an organism)
  • 2008: successful assembly of the genome of a bacterium into yeast, the first time that a genome is transferred between branches of life.
  • Synthetic Genomics