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skedeebs t1_j5j7jrw wrote

This is potentially very exciting, but companies have also talked about producing cheap and sustainable aviation fuel from algae for at least 15 years. They talk about scaling up from "several tonnes" of algae 2 or 3 years from now. It seems a very long way from being a replacement for anything yet, let alone plastic.

We should all be desperate for this to work on a massive scale. Congratulations to the researchers who have made the first steps.

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lucidesposition t1_j5k5871 wrote

There has to be on successful operation that’s running off algae. I’ll look it up skeebs

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linmar22 t1_j5kc62z wrote

Maybe they can turn algae into another one of those amazing batteries we keep hearing about. You know, the ones that charge instantly, fit in your pocket, and hold a charge large enough to power your house for 10 years.

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MuddyFinish t1_j5kobd3 wrote

I can wait for some A.I.(Algae Intelligence) to get developed.

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quaffwine t1_j5lfwrv wrote

I’m a kelp farmer and I must say there’s a lot of noise and very little to show from bioplastic companies that I talk to.

I think there may be some very real potential on the biofuels front but scaling up will take some awesome infrastructure projects the likes of which we can’t easily imagine for, including it’s effects on ocean dwellers and oceanic nutrient flows.

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WEIRDOCAMPdotCOM t1_j5leni8 wrote

Algae is so excessively renewable, it's a natural priority right now.

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JustPruIt89 t1_j5nj691 wrote

Biofuels from algae were a potential, but then oil prices shot back down. These companies decided the market was too volatile but used the knowledge they gained to use algae for plastics, neutraceuticals, alternative meat, etc

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