Algae Screen, a new technology that can help oil algae growth much easier by killing microscopic predators, without the use of chemicals, has been announced today by Origin Oil. The company’s press release says that their technology uses electromagnetic pulses to kill the microscopic invaders.
The Algae are nowadays seen as a precious source of energy, because of their quick growth process and high oil production. Actually, the oil that we are extracting is in fact made from algae that lived millions of years ago, and sequestered the carbon present in those times.
Growing algae and burning the oil extracted from them creates a totally different scenario, because instead of burying them underground, we only recycle the carbon dioxide they absorbed.
Another aspect that makes algae the best option for biofuel extraction is that they don’t take up useful crop lands and we don’t have to cut down forests to grow them. They can easily be harvested in places where nothing else grows.
“All algae are targets for invasion. Oil-rich algae are particularly attractive to rotifers and other microscopic predators,” said Paul Reep, Senior VP of Technology. “Algae Screen will protect an algae culture continuously from microscopic invaders, such as rotifers, bacteria, and ciliates. An additional unique benefit is that it integrates fully with Live Extraction, since it is based on similar technology.”
Live Extraction is another OriginOil invention which extracts oil easily, also referred to as “milking.”
The electromagnetic pulses used by the Algae Screen technology are being sent at different power levels through the algae environment, depending on the type of algae and the water hardness and salinity.
