Biofuels Made from Bacteria
Here’s a good article on the production of propane using E. coli bacteria.
The thing to keep in mind here is the conservation of energy. Every kWh of energy produced as propane has to come from somewhere. In the case of biofuels, that means the sun. But we already have technologies for converting the sun’s radiant energy into electricity: solar PV, solar thermal, wind, and most hydro.
So the question is: what’s the relative efficiency, and ultimately the cost-effectiveness, of using bacteria to capture and store that energy?
The answer to that question depends on a great number of things, and it will change over time as all these technologies continue to improve. But here’s the benchmark: the price of solar PV today is headed rapidly for $1/Watt, and it’s about 20% efficient.
If you think you can beat that, fine. I’m betting against you, but I’ve been wrong before, once or twice.
Craig in the abstract and over the long term what you are saying is absolutely true. I have argued the same points Efficiency and economics will determine winners.
But this may be leaving out an important factor. The makers of this technology are not thinking of either. They are considering the available market today. They may be getting subsidies from petrochemical companies who don’t want to see people using other technologies.
In my last tour through the Midwest, US, I noticed that a lot of farm equipment is run on propane power. Perhaps it comes with less EPA regulations than stockpiling gasoline. Propane is also an alternative fossil fuel used for heating in areas not served by natural gas pipelines.
Now if there were another market where there was a great deal of electric equipment around then the owners of that capital would certainly be interested in ways to produce electricity.
Efficiency tends to lower costs, but for someone with an investment in existing equipment the comparison is likely going to be between existing suppliers and a new technology that will supply the same thing. Something like this then is serving a niche market.
Once someone becomes concerned about the global situation then they may be inspired to suffer the (at least apparent)out of pocket expense of new equipment. Given enough time investments in new equipment will also pay off it the efficiency is there. But there are other factors like the required learning that usually comes with new equipment that may cause some hesitation.