Exxon to Invest Millions to Make Fuel From Algae

[IDemo]

By JAD MOUAWAD, New York Times
Published: July 13, 2009

The oil giant Exxon Mobil, whose chief executive once mocked alternative energy by referring to ethanol as “moonshine,” is about to venture into biofuels.

On Tuesday, Exxon plans to announce an investment of $600 million in producing liquid transportation fuels from algae — organisms in water that range from pond scum to seaweed. The biofuel effort involves a partnership with Synthetic Genomics, a biotechnology company founded by the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter.

The agreement could plug a major gap in the strategy of Exxon, the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, which has been criticized by environmental groups for dismissing concerns about global warming in the past and its reluctance to develop renewable fuels.

Despite the widely publicized “moonshine” remark a few years ago by Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the company has spent several years exploring various fuel alternatives, according to one of its top research officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/business/energy-environment/14fuel.html?hpw

[lk9650]

1. interesting

[Terry in Austin]

2. Accepting the premise

If you accept the premise that what we have is "a fuel problem" -- that all we need to do is find something else to run the cars on -- then the fuel-from-algae angle is probably the most plausible of the lot.

Otherwise, what we have here is another bit of evidence that old paradigms die hard.

[Nederland]

3. Not really

Burning bio fuels instead of fossil fuels solves the CO2 emission problem too...

[Terry in Austin]

4. Oh really?

Burning bio fuels instead of fossil fuels solves the CO2 emission problem too...

Even if the CO2 problem is solved that neatly, it still leaves us with a car problem.

[GreenGreenLimaBean]

6. bigger issue

it still leaves us with a too much CO2 in the atmosphere problem....

[Terry in Austin]

7. Hang on -- nederland already solved the CO2 issue

See above...

[hunter]

5. Why am I imagining giant brine lakes full of toxic chemicals and algae?

With shorelines littered by dead and dying birds...

Probably because it's Exxon Mobil.

[Terry in Austin]

8. Oh, you realist, you...

That's no fun!