Youth Venture

April 21, 2009 - 8:46am — epine99

VENTURE: Algal Biodiesel Project

VENTURE: Algal Biodiesel Project

by: Charles Tsai

Brian Finn, 17, USA - Imagine that pond scum could replace the most widely-used power source on earth. In the Algal Biodiesel Project (ABP) at the Greater Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science High School, we aim to do just that.

brian150The ABP is a student-run project doing independent research into creating biodiesel fuel from algae. We are a team of about thirty high-school students from twenty-three school districts across Connecticut spending time outside of school and on weekends doing original research and experimentation.

With the world’s supply of fossil fuels dwindling and global warming hovering over us, a practical solution is required today. We believe that algal biodiesel is the solution. Algae is a domestic, non-food crop with a much higher oil yield than other alternative fuel feedstock, and is easily cultivated on fallow land. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that emits far less pollution than petrochemicals and can be used with existing infrastructure.

We have seen the effect of a failing oil supply on the world economy; biodiesel can replace reliance on oil and replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy. Biodiesel is a practical alternative energy that can fundamentally alter the energy industry and its impact on the environment of tomorrow.

Goals:

*Create a process that will capture at least 50% of the oil from algal biomass with energy cost not exceeding amount of energy extracted
* Enact complete process for cultivating algae, harvesting it, extracting oil, and turning oil into biodiesel
* Make our product usable in a diesel motor and compliant with ASTM standards for biodiesel
* Refine and optimize product until it is equal to or more eco-friendly than other sources of biodiesel