1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com where 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: could we eliminate fossil fuels and all the carbon emissions 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: that they create? So last week you may recall that 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: I did a post on Jewel Unlimited, a company that 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: claims that in two thousand and twelve, they will be 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: able to produce virtually unlimited liquid hydrocarbons, namely diesel fuel, 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: using bacteria. The company further claims that they'll be able 9 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: to do this at a rate of fifteen thousand gallons 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: of diesel fuel per acre, and that the diesel fuel 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: will cost the equivalent of oil if it were at 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: thirty dollars per barrel. Now, this is miraculous if they 13 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: pull it off, and I did talk about it in 14 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: my podcast. I also posted it on the blog. And 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: what was interesting was the reaction to that. Almost universally, 16 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: people thought one of two things. Either that the oil companies, 17 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: because they want to make billions of dollars a year 18 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: in revenue from oil, are going to come in and 19 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: crush this effort in any effort like it, so that 20 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: none of these uh bacteria generated or algae generated liquid 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: hydro carbons ever make it to market, or people thought 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: that this company is lying in order to raise money, 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: that they are just making up these claims and that 24 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: there is absolutely no truth to it. I don't think 25 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: their claims are false, because there are lots of companies 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: pursuing the same kind of activity, either in the bacteria 27 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: or in the algae space, and the number of companies 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: would imply that there really is something there. But the 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: conspiracy theory thing is kind of interesting if you think 30 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: about it, because historically there is a fair amount of 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:03,639 Speaker 1: evidence that the oil company do participate in conspiracy theory 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. For example, there was the dismantling of 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: the rapid transit system in Los Angeles. There was prohibition 34 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: which many think was put in place not because of 35 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: the problems of drinking alcohol, but because of the problems 36 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: of making ethanol as a fuel. Things like that do 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: make you think. So I was thinking about it, and 38 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: I was thinking, Okay, let's say that these conspiracy theories 39 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: are true. And there were so many people that came 40 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: up with this kind of comment that, you know, it 41 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: made me think. This is a deeply seated belief in 42 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: the United States. So let's say these theories are true. 43 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: How could you get around it? What could you do 44 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: that would make it impossible for the oil companies to 45 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: stop the effort to create liquid hydrocarbons from bacteria or algae. 46 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: My thinking took me in this direction. One way to 47 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: get around the conspiracy would be to widely publicized instructions 48 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: for a fuel production system that any normal, do it 49 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: yourself type maker person could easily build in his or 50 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: her backyard. Imagine if a system like that existed, You 51 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: invest a couple of hundred bucks, and suddenly you can 52 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: make your own fuel, essentially for free, in your backyard. 53 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: If thousands of people were doing this, there would be 54 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: no way to squash that movement, and that would give 55 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: small companies the cover they need to grow fuel in 56 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: bigger batches, and soon fossil fuels would be a thing 57 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: of the past. The funny thing is, the more I 58 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: think about this, the more realistic it seems. This might 59 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: actually be a project that falls within the abilities of 60 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: normal do it yourself folks, and more importantly, the maker community. 61 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: Think about the pieces needed to pull this off. First, 62 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: we need the ability to grow algae. Now, this is 63 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: not a complicated problem. Anybody who's left a bucket out 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: on the back poor that has rainwater and it has 65 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: seen algae grow right before their very eyes. So any 66 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: kind of large plastic barrel or an inexpensive above ground 67 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: swimming pool can be used to grow algae. Algae like 68 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: lots of other plants, produce oil. You know, corn produces 69 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: corn oil, soybeans produced soybean oil. So algae produces algae oil. 70 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: We next need a way to separate that oil from 71 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: the algae. Now this isn't trivial, but it's not impossible either. 72 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: You can dry the algae and then you can press 73 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: the algae sort of like you press olives to get 74 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: olive oil. You can press the algae to get the 75 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: algae oil out of it. There's no magic here, and 76 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: the sun can do the drying, so it's not like 77 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: we need energy to dry out the algae. Now with 78 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: that oil, you can do one of two things. You 79 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: can burn oil directly in a diesel engine. You have 80 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: to do a little bit of modification to heat the 81 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: oil up, especially in winter, or it's not gonna flow 82 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: properly and it's gonna come up the engine. But when 83 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 1: mr diesel invented the diesel engine, he intended vegetable oil 84 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: to be the source of fuel, so this is not 85 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: an unusual thing to do to a diesel engine. But 86 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: if you don't want to use liquid vegetable oil in 87 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: your diesel engine, then you have the option of taking 88 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: that algae oil and turning it into biodiesel. This again 89 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: is not trivial, but it's also not impossible, and it's 90 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: something that just about anybody could do in their garage 91 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: if they wanted to. Now, whether you use straight vegetable 92 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: oil or bio diesel in a car, you have successfully 93 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: grown fuel in your backyard at low cost on your own, 94 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: and there really isn't any way for anybody to stop 95 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: you from doing this. If we wanted to turn this 96 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: into a widespread do it yourself movement, what would we 97 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: have to do? What's missing? There's really only two things. 98 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: The first is a set of complete step by step 99 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: instructions with all the kinks worked out, so that someone 100 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: can pick up these instructions and start making fuel in 101 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 1: their backyard without it being a real problem, or without 102 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: them making a lot of mistakes, or without anything blowing up, 103 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: which is impossible. You can't really blow anything up while 104 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: you grow algae and press oil out of it. But 105 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: it would be nice to know how to make the 106 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: press and what to feed the algae and so on, 107 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: so step by step instructions would help. The second thing 108 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: we need is good strains of algae that produce a 109 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: lot of oil. This, too, is something that the maker 110 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: community could grab. Ahold of the discovery and or the 111 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: creation of algae strains is something that's fathomable. One way 112 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: to do it would be to go out into nature 113 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: and gather different strains of algae from different ponds, separated 114 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: into its different species, grow them, and see which strain 115 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: of naturally occurring algae produces the most oil. It's also 116 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: getting easier and easy year for makers to do biotech 117 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: at home or in rented facilities because biotech equipment and 118 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: biotech procedures have gotten a lot less expensive and a 119 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: lot easier. So you could imagine a part of the 120 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: maker community going out and trying to create to bioengineer 121 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: their own algae strain that produces a lot of oil. 122 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: Then it would just be a matter of making these 123 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: high oil algae strains available to people so that they 124 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: can use them in their backyard algae growing pools. So 125 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: just imagine what would happen if this could be pulled off, 126 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: If the instructions could be developed, if the processes could 127 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: be simplified, if a strain of algae could be found 128 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: that produces a really high quantity of oil per cubic 129 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: meter of water, then we would be on the cusp 130 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: of the elimination of fossil fuels. It's one of the 131 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: most important problems humankind needs to solve, and it would 132 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: be great if do it yourselfers and the maker community 133 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: could make it happened. 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