Jeff Muhs and biofuels
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Next week's Lunch with Leo presentation coincides with Air Force Week, and the topic couldn't be more relevant: biofuels and the future of energy. (Sorry -- Thunderbirds not included!) The speaker for the June 3 lunch is Jeff Muhs, executive director of the Utah State University Energy Lab. Muhs investigates strains of oil-rich algae in order to optimize biofuel production.
Muhs, who was at one point an energy and science policy advisor to the U.S. Senate, recently testified before Congress about the plausbility of using algae to capture and recycle carbon-dioxide emissions and create oil in the process. Muhs is also a USTAR researcher.
(All images courtesy of Jeff Muhs' research lab)
Muhs, who was at one point an energy and science policy advisor to the U.S. Senate, recently testified before Congress about the plausbility of using algae to capture and recycle carbon-dioxide emissions and create oil in the process. Muhs is also a USTAR researcher.
In theory, algae farms can be anywhere there is enough sunlight for the plants, and part of Muhs' research is optimizing sunlight absorption and thus increasing the amount of fuel produced. Other biofuel researchers are exploring creative placements for algae ponds -- next to wastewater treatment plants (the, ahem, natural organics in the wastewater can be part of the algae "food"), in shallow desert pools in the sunny southwestern United States, or next to coal plants where algae could convert waste carbon dioxide to biofuel.
You may remember the Continental Airlines test flight this January with half a tank of conventional jet fuel and half a tank of algae- and jatropha-produced biofuel. Continental joined Air New Zealand and Japan Airlines, among others, in testing biofuels as an alternative to conventional jet fuel. Even though large-scale algae fuel production is likely still several years away, the promise of this biofuel has caught the attention of the airlines, Congress and R/D communities throughout the country.
So, please, join us Wednesday, June 3, at the Salt Lake City Public Library for a discussion about how the hated pond scum of yesteryear could become the future of fuel. (To register for Lunch with Leo, visit its web page. The event is open to the public, and the $25 fee pays for your meal.)
Labels: Leo, locals, science, technology, university, USTAR
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