Oil grown in outdoor raceway ponds located in the Gulf Coast, Southeastern Seaboard and the Great Lakes could help solve the US's reliance on imported oil.
According to a new Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study, algae oil could replace up to 17 per cent of the US's imported oil for transportation; with the study also showing that water use for algae cultivation is much less if the algae is grown in the US regions with the sunniest and most humid climates.
The paper, published in the journal Water Resources Research, estimates how much water would need to be replaced due to evaporation over 30 years. The team looked at previously published data to determine how much algae can be grown in open, outdoor ponds of fresh water using current technologies. It developed a national geographic information system database to evaluate topography, population, land use and other information through every 100ft throughout the US. This then allowed them to identify the areas best suited for algae growth.
From there, they gathered 30 years of meteorological information to determine the amount of sunlight that algae could realistically photosynthesise and how warm ponds would become.
Among the results of the research were that 21billion gallons of algae oil can be produced with American grown algae – this is equal to the 2022 advanced biofuels goal established by the Energy Independence and Security Act.
It showed that up to 48 per cent of the current transportation oil imports could be replaced with algae but that higher production level would require significantly more water and land.
