Saw an interesting article on growing algae to harvest diesel oil form
the plan. Exactly what is needed to make us sustainable.

http://starbulletin.com/2008/07/16/news/story02.html

"al Guacamole" lava.net> wrote in message
news:1216389301-sch@news.lava.net...

Sure hope this works well - technically, economically, and
practically. I
know that getting biofuel from algae has been a reality in the
laboratory
for some time now, but as I understand there are many obstacles
between the
lab on the one hand and mass production on an industry level on the
other, a
key challenge being contamination. An important determinent will be
absence of any kind of subsidy on the one hand and cost effectiveness
on the
other. Makes no sense if someone - the government or otherwise - on an ...

On Jul 18, 3:55 am, al Guacamole lava.net> wrote:

I didn't see mentioned how much they have to put in to get that
out ...

Maren

Maren at google wrote:

And by virtue of it being a hydrocarbon, it still emits CO2 when burned.
I'm still taking the bus (for the most part) until I can get a decent
plugin hybrid. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
(My current locale produces all electricity thru hydro)

Aloha mai Nai`a!

On Jul 18, 3:25 pm, Maren at google jach.hawaii.edu> wrote:

On Jul 20, 5:45 am, Nai`a lava.net> wrote:

We couldn't have hydro or nuclear power in Hawaii. Our Hawaii
constitution rejects these power sources. Hydro power dams in
Washington have caused a lot of environmental damage to the salmon.
The fear in Hawaii is that IIRC the reservoirs created by the dams can
not only damage natural habitats but also cover archaeological sites
of the ancient Hawaiians.

We probably have more energy available in OTEC power to all the
Hawaiian islands because warm Pacific surface waters. I would guess
much more OTEC than that is available in hydro to you folks in
Washington. We chose not to develop OTEC power. When the opportunity
to build a 50 Mwat plant for $50M arose about 50 years ago, the state
got cold feet because the price of oil fell to $20 a barrel. We didn't
look upon sustainability as being important then.

On Jul 21, 8:05 am, al Guacamole lava.net> wrote:

Think again and look again.

You may not have the rivers to feed large hydro plants on Oahu, but
there's 3 hydro power plants on the Wailuku River between Piihonua
and the river mouth alone (that's about 3 miles). As it rained again
the Piihonua plant may be producing again too. The Waiau plant and
the one downtown never stopped (this year yet). I'm pretty sure the
'mini-plant' on the Ainako Stream (that isn't even big enough to be on
a topographic map) has been producing the whole time as well.

On Jul 20, 5:45 am, al Guacamole lava.net> wrote:

Is not what I'm asking. Put carbon in, get carbon out, that's pretty
clear. How much *energy* do you have to put in to get how much
*energy* out?

"al Guacamole" lava.net> wrote in message
news:1216663502-sch@news.lava.net...

"Maren at google" jach.hawaii.edu> wrote in message
news:1216704303-sch@news.lava.net...