CLIMATE CHANGE: A MUCH EASIER SOLUTION

You may have forgotten—a lot has been happening—but Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released her “Green New Deal” just a little over two years ago. In it she declared it would be necessary to park all airplanes in hangers and close the doors, eliminate all our current sources of power in favor of solar and windmills (Texas may be thinking twice about that), upgrade every single building in the United States—let me repeat that—every single building in the United States to achieve maximum energy efficiency, take buses instead of driving our cars, work with farmers to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions “as much as feasible” (known as getting rid of cows who emit methane gas, and other draconian measures

Not only are her ideas unimaginably harsh and a manacling of our freedom, the “Deal” would cost trillions and trillions of dollars. There is a much easier and less detrimental way to minimize the greenhouse gas effect.

It all starts with ALGAE.

Microalgae are single-cell organisms with more than 30,000 species, and they can accomplish a variety of tasks for us. Macroalgae are the Goliaths of the algae family. You probably know them as kelp or seaweed. They range in size from some plants that will fit in your hand to giant 100-foot long kelps found in the ocean. You’re probably using and/or eating both microalgae and macroalgae without even knowing it.

Microalgae can be made into a biofuel that exactly reproduces the characteristics of petroleum and can be used in cars, boats, and airplanes without any engine modifications. Research and Development teams are working on getting the algae to produce sufficient oil and sustain growth in the process. Here’s a part of a post in the New York Times:

One of ExxonMobil’s top targets for advanced biofuel production is algae. Some species of the organism are rich in natural oils called lipids, so much so, that harvesting a single acre of algae can today provide 2,000 gallons of biofuel. By comparison, a similar sized plot of palm-oil trees typically yields just 650 gallons.

Rob Brown, Vice President, Phototrophic Systems at Synthetic Genomics said, “We’re aiming to have the technical ability to produce 10,000 barrels of algae-based biofuel a day by 2025.” And that biofuel will emit only half as much of those dreaded greenhouse gases as the fuel we are using today.

An article in Algae Planet, titled “An Update on Cows, Red Seaweed and Methane Emissions”  stated:

The researchers fed twenty-one Angus-Hereford beef bullocks their usual diet of hay, grains, and corn, supplemented with either zero, low, or high concentrations of red seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis). They measured the quantity of methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide released by individual bullocks periodically for 21 weeks and found that seaweed supplements reduced methane emissions by between 45 percent and 68 percent.

The study is the first to show a sustained reduction in cattle greenhouse gas emissions as a result of feed supplementation. Bullocks also sustained normal growth rates while consuming less food, suggesting that red seaweed supplemented diets could help farmers improve efficiency, reduce costs, and reduce methane emissions simultaneously, the authors say.

Petroleum is the foundational ingredient in many products, most of which you wouldn’t even guess would contain petroleum. Algae is used to make everything from shoes to surfboards, and they’re biodegradable.

I can’t go into all the uses of algae here, but if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you a chapter of my yet-unpublished book, “Really Going Green.” Using algae to replace many of the uses of petroleum can reduce our carbon footprint while remaining an exporter of fossil fuel to countries who rely upon it. If your children are told by their teacher that we must switch completely away from gasoline-powered cars, etc., let them be ready to make the class aware that electric cars are not the only answer. Windmills and solar have their place, but they are not the entire answer. Suggest the students write letters to members of Congress asking that a large amount of what is proposed for the Green New Deal be offered to companies who will enthusiastically engage in research to make algae biofuel, plastics, and many other products now petroleum-based a reality.