First Algae Car Attempts To Cross the US On 25 Gallons of Fuel

Mike writes "San Francisco recently saw the unveiling of the world's first algae fuel-powered vehicle, dubbed the Algaeus. The plug-in hybrid car, which is a Prius tricked out with a nickel metal hydride battery and a plug, runs on green crude from Sapphire Energy — no modifications to the gasoline engine necessary. The set-up is so effective, according to FUEL producer Rebecca Harrell, that the Algaeus can cross the US on approximately 25 gallons of fuel — a figure which is currently being tested on a coast-to-coast road trip."

Fuel + Electric

[Anonymous Cowar]

When they factor in or go without the gallons of oil, pounds of coal, cubic feet of natural gas, amount of uranium or other fissile fuel, wind turbine hours, and other electric generation measures, then I'll get excited. Until then the 25 gallons is a bit misleading, sort of like the volt's 240mpg. Either that or I'll forgo the above if you give me a dollar amount in electricity donated, borrowed, bought, or rented along the way.

how about zero gallons?

[Anonymous Coward]

a plug-in hybrid should be able to cross the US on zero gallons of fuel as long as the battery pack is large enough to get to the next plug

5% Algae?

[Nemyst]

TFA says the car is running on a 5% mix Algae, with the rest being gasoline. What exactly does this prove, apart from being a marketing stunt?

If anyone has better knowledge on what just 5% of this fuel can change to the overall MPG rating, I'd be glad to hear about it, but call me sceptical about the whole claim.

Well, my Honda can cross the US on TWO gallons...

[jeffb (2.718)]

...of whale oil, since it's actually using gasoline, not whale oil, as its fuel. But, hey, whale oil is fuel, and I don't need more than two gallons of it, so my claim is exactly as well-founded as theirs.

Plug-in hybrids are a great idea. But stop already with the stupid and misleading claims about "gas mileage" based on getting most of your energy from the grid.

False Advertising

[jklovanc]

I just noticed that the past paragraph states "Algaeus only runs on a 5% blend of algae fuel". Basically only 1.25 gallons of algae fuel will be used. The rest of the energy will come from conventional fossil fuels and the electrical grid. Not much of a big advancement.

Re:Fuel + Electric

[Ironsides]

I'd also add what their average speed is as well. You can get much better fuel economy in a prius if you only drive 25 mph than if you drive 65 mph due to the electric motor on board. Although, this is going to be the killer to their statement

And while the Algaeus only runs on a 5% blend of algae fuel

Re:5% Algae?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, a good engine should be able to support 5% of pretty much any crap. But water is a bad example because it doesn't mix with hydrocarbons and would just separate at the bottom of the tank.

What makes this an Algae car?

[olsmeister]

It says no modifications to the gasoline engine necessary.

It could just as easily be an Exxon Mobile car. Or a Chevron car.

I guess the point is to try to draw attention to algae fuel extraction technology, but it's a bit misleading.

Re:5% Algae?

[torkus]

Actually the rest is a mix of gasoline and coal (well, electricity derived from it).

Show me some actual numbers of the (usable) energy density of this 5% alge and we can talk. Until then this is a car being driven as an electric-primary vehicle with diluted gas as a secondary source.

Website is forgery giveaway

[owlstead]

Come on guys! A single look at the website shows that this is a marketing stunt. It seems to me that there are quite a few "green" sites that are completely misleading.

Currently I am very suspicious of over-engineered websites like these. I remember the site of ThinFilm. Brilliant to look at, technically very interesting and technologically completely misleading (oh, the capacity that they could reach!). Now their main applications seem to be kids toys and RFID for which they are planning to use a few hundred bits.

Re:Fuel + Electric

[C0deM0nkey]

I think the thing to get excited about here is that this solution...along with any electric car in general...is a step towards reducing and eliminating fossil fuels. Consider it a step towards consolidating our use of fossil fuels into specific distribution points on the electric grid. Say that it encourages the replacement of gasoline fueling stations with electric fueling stations. Say that it inspires advances in quick-charging battery cells for electric cars.

What do we have then? We've still got fossil fuels being burned at key points on the electric grid *and* the emissions from those locations is very significant. But we've also gained better battery technology and fewer gas stations and (here's the big one) we are poised to replace those electrical nodes with cleaner alternatives.

Part of the struggle moving from one technology to the next involves infrastructure replacement and consolidation of old resources. The Algaeus is just a tree in the overall forest. See the forest and then the Algaeus becomes pretty cool -- because it means we are trying *something* to move away from fossil fuels in our primary mode of transportation (at least in the US).

Re:Fuel + Electric

[Toonol]

My question is, under the accounting they're using, why do they use any fuel at all? Why not go for the gold and say "we crossed the US without using any fuel at all!"?

Because the snake oil they're pitching is algae. They had to add a meaningless amount of algae-based fuel to the gas tank in order to include the proper buzzword in their PR release. Not TOO much algae-fuel, or the car wouldn't work, of course.

The Private, Free Market

[robocrop]

The truly exciting thing here is that it's yet another 'green' innovation brought to you by the private free market. Just like the Prius itself, this was the result of a business listening to its customers and responding to a demand. It was not brought about by government mandate or fiat. People roll their eyes when you talk about the wonder of the free market, unaware of its massive and beneficial daily impact on their lives. This is why you have to fight to keep it.

Re:Fuel + Electric

[lymond01]

In most cases these days we are not striving to lower cradle to grave energy use. We are trying to reduce gasoline usage. If a car uses, effectively, twice as much energy to get from point A to point B, but uses solar or some renewable resource (even centralized electricity from hydro plants say), then it's better than gasoline.