First algae fuel-powered vehicle in the world was officially launched in San Francisco. The car, called Algaeus is a modified Toyota Prius, which derives power from green crude, from Sapphire Energy. The car runs on an astonishing 150 miles per gallon of green fuel. But they are aspiring to cross the US on approximately25 gallons of fuel.According to Fuel producer Rebecca Harrell, "Powering our cars with algae-based fuel could be the next Apollo mission". Rebecca Harrel is the co-founder of the Veggie Van Organization and producer of the upcoming film FUEL. In the coming 10 days she'll be accompanying the Fuel director and Veggie van Organization cofunder Josh Tickell. Together they will take the Algaeus on a countrywide road trip. The duo's other travel companions will be other green energy vehicles (including the Veggie Van and the biodiesel-powered big green energy bus), "It hit us that we needed to drive the car across the country", Harfel said "People think of algae fuel as this long-therm, far off thing. But seeing is believing".
This countrywide tour will serve a dual purpose. People will be aware of the new clean and green fuel and they will give publicity to their forthcoming film FUEL. This film depicts America's dependency on foreign oil. They claim that their film is different from other environmentally-themed movies. Till now these movies raise a question mark and present us with bleak future. Those movies were ususally silent about the answers to environmental hazards. FUEL tries to fill the gap here. They talk about the various methods to make the transition from oil to alternative sources of energy. What's important for everyday people is information. People don't say 'Can you give me something else to be scared about? They say, How can I get my car to run on algae fuel? Tickell explained. Fuel will be released in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Washington DC on September 18th.
But you can not fill your tank with algae fuel at your local gas station in the foreseeable future. But the company aims to increase production of algae-based jet fuel this year and plans production of over 2 million liters of algae based diesel fuel per year over the next two years. The car is powered by a mixture of algae fuel and the environmentally friendly-fuel-driven automobile.
Though, it is early to conclude that we can use algae as transport fuel. We all know that five percent blend of algae doesn't precisely indicate the initation of an algae revolution. But as the saying goes, glass if half full too. It states that advancement is being mad on the fuel with great potential. This road trip will allow people to witness the progress in action. The main point of the Algaeus is to show the capability of algae to be used in an ordinary engine.
(www.alternative-energy-news.info)
