Re: Are Biofuels the Answer?

I've had to beat folks up with the ethanol/energy ratio issue saveral times... There is a net gain in usable energy by growing biomass anf distilling EtOH, but it's slight when you balance the books on the grand scale.  Yes, there are a hunderd things you can do wrong and turn the process into an energy sink, but if you're careful, the yield can be >100% of the energy invested.

The algae still requires fresh water, even if we could pump seawater into the Utah desert, the salt would accumulate and we'de either have to flush it back out to sea, or spread the brine on the salt flats.  The algae would certainly capture carmon from the air, but we'd still have to supply soluble nutrients and make up for the losses.  What you need to keep in mind is that algae harnesses a fraction of 1% of the energy of the sunlight it intercepts >99.9% simply evaporates the water.  But it is fairly cheap.

Thanks for the plug on concentrating solar-thermal-electric (that's my game).  I believe that it's possible we'll be producing enough energy in 5 years to offset about 1/2 million barrels of oil per day. Yes, it's an aggressive business plan, but once we produce the first few installs and "prove" that we can deliver the systems as promised, our model is inherently scaleable.  Then it's just a matter of managing the growth of the franchise opportunities. No this isn't the like the Citizenre plan of having the largest PV module plant in the world.  Those of us in the business knew instantly that there was no source for the Silicon boules they'd need to make good on their promise.  It's a shame, because the FRA concept is a good idea, an a great benefit to the consumer.  The real tragedy is that the suits will certainly blame the engineers for failing to deliver on their impossibly fantastic promises.  I suppose you can tell where my sympathies are. 

There are certainly some problems with II-VI PV, but some of these are common industrial issues that can be addressed in the normal course of operations.  I'm referring to the toxicity and flammability issues mentioned.  All the hydrides mentiones are flammable; silane, arsine, selenine, etc, but so is propane, butane, octane, alcohol, yada yada yada.

Honestly, I never gave CdTe much credence in the commercial arena.  As an exotic cell material sure, there will always be some small demand for it, but the Tellurium will always be the limiting factor.  It's just not that abundant... The high prices will keep it out of the main stream.  Same goes for CIS & CIGS.