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June 7 — To the Editor:
Two airlines announced that they were going to buy jet fuel made from algae a few months ago, following successful test flights. The United States Navy is powering ships and aircraft with renewable fuels, as well. Most recently, a major airline announced that they were buying a refinery. They all must be tired of being held hostage to supply chain manipulation for their diesel and jet fuel. The annual savings by running their own refinery was advertised to be $300 million a year. It will provide 80 percent of the owning airline’s annual needs.
Imagine if we could buy our own “refineries” to make our own fuel. Actually, we can.
Biodiesel can be made using a relatively simple process and then can be used in a diesel engine or as home heating oil. Through a process called esterification, fats and oils can be converted into biodiesel. The base oil can be cooking oil, or oil created by algae. Imagine that you have a shallow 16-by-32-foot pool that can grow you a gallon of algae oil per square foot, per year. Using a centrifuge or by skimming and heating, the algae cell walls are broken to release the oil. The oil is brought to the reaction temperature and mixed with methoxide and stirred. Methoxide is made by very carefully mixing methanol (i.e., wood alcohol) with sodium hydroxide (i.e., lye or caustic soda) or potassium hydroxide (i.e., caustic potash). The result is biodiesel and glycerin separated in your mixing tank. This could result in 500 gallons of heating oil from your pool for under a dollar a gallon for the raw materials. If we are going to be paying three to four dollars a gallon for home heating oil or diesel fuel, it may be worth it for some of us to buy our own “refineries.” Plenty of people make beer, wine or soap at home now, so who knows what the future will bring.
Wishful thinking isn’t going to help us lower fuel prices or keep them lower. We need to let the companies know that we are willing to make the effort if they are going to continue to price gouge us. Pumping a liquid is much easier than chopping, splitting and stacking fire wood. Let’s get started.
Don Cavallaro
Rye
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Article source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120609-OPINION-206090307
