I recently learned that oil is mostly composed of algae and phytoplankton capturing carbon out the atmosphere thousands of years ago. Later the organisms fall to the bottom of the ocean and through time turn into crude hydrocarbons. So why do we not attempt to create the same crude oil by using alge with waste water from water processing plants?
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>So why do we not attempt to create the same crude oil by using alge with waste water from water processing plants?
The natural process, i.e. something that would be free takes millions upon millions of years. We don’t really have that kind of time.
Otherwise, you are just talking about creating biodiesel from algae. Which we are already doing but it’s very expensive. (and I think might not even be a net energy gain at all?)
When we say something is “non-renewable” we don’t always mean there no way to ever get more of it. But more that the current methods of getting that thing have a end date that is close enough that we need to worry about it.
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