THE BEST FUEL ALTERNATIVE

By Marco Terrazas

HYDROGEN• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in

the universe.• It is a clean type of fuel, unlike fossil fuels,

It results in heat and water instead of greenhouse gases

• It is very renewable as the water produced can be broken up into hydrogen atoms and can be reused.

• It is very efficient, most of the energy created can be used as fuel

HYDROGEN• Storage for hydrogen is complicated

as hydrogen must be stored in a liquid state and kept in low temperatures.

• The cost to produce hydrogen fuel is very expensive.

• Hydrogen does not occur naturally in the world.

• The amount of energy produced from hydrogen fuel is less than the amount of energy is needed to produce it.

BIODIESEL•“Microalgae can produce and accumulate lipids within their cells. These lipids on transesterification yields biodiesel”•Since Microalgae is not a common food supply, It will not damage the ecosystem if it is harvested in large quantities•It has a high per-acre productivity, the most out of any biofuel previously tested.•Microalgae can grow in land that is not agriculturally based making it very beneficial

BIODIESEL• Even though it seems promising,

Algal strands must be tested to find the highest energy producing strands to harvest.

• New ways to extract the lipids from the algae must be found to make the job easier

• The problem is a large sum of land is needed for such an endeavor

• “All of the production must be done at a cost that makes it competitive with petroleum based companies” -Philip T. Pienkos

CYANOBACTERIA• They are able to produce a

lot of energy per acre compared with other biofuel crops.

• Their survival only consists of sunlight, water, CO2 and a few nutrients

• Cyanobacteria can be grown in rooftop PBRs or wherever sufficient quantities of sunlight and CO2 can be provided.

• “they are tolerant of a wide range of temperatures, salinities and pH conditions.”

CYANOBACTERIA• Phosphorus is needed to farm

cyanobacteria and unfortunately it is not a low cost additive.

• Once the phosphorus limitation can be overcome, light irradiance and CO2 become the limiting factors for growth.

• Due to the atmosphere being low on CO2, the only way to effectively farm this energy source is using excess CO2 emitting from power plants.

CONCLUSION• The most promising energy source that

could potentially be implemented is Cyanobacteria

• It has high energy yield and has no potential drawbacks other than the amount of resources needed for it

• Unlike microalgae, It does not need as much land and unlike Hydrogen, it does not have a storage problem

• All of cyanobacteria’s resources needed for energy production are renewable.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED“Bacteria as Alternate Energy? Cyanobacteria Converts Sunlight into Fuel” International

Business Times. (2013)

Gaurav, Kumar. “Exploring Biodiesel: Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Micro algal Source.” International Journal of Green Energy. (2013): p775-796

Jain, I.P. “Hydrogen the fuel for 21st century.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. (2009): p7368-7378.

Saravanan, S. “Fuzzy logic controller based power management for a standalone solar/wind/fuel cell fed hybrid system.” Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy. (2013) 25p.New Energy and fuel. “Culturing Cyanobacteria for Biofuel.” New energy and fuel. (July 12,2010)Images used: •http://www.ecnmag.com/article/2013/02/broadening-horizons-alternative-fuel-vehicle-market•http://alternativefuelkoval.blogspot.com/2015/11/best-alternative-fuels.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTINUED• http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/alternative-fuel-26827301.jpg• http://gas2.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/toyota-mirai-1-620x350.jpg• http://www.keepbanderabeautiful.org/hydrogen-cyclei.jpg• http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/

BiodieselCycle.jpg• http://www.greenguidespain.com/andalucia/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/

biofuel.jpg• http://tunza.eco-generation.org/resourcesView.jsp?

boardID=ambassadorReport&viewID=12425• http://thecoolgadgets.com/algae-base-ethanol-up-to-87-percent-reduction-

in-co2/