Fuel of shit!

By Roger Hanney

In the first week of October, New Zealand-based Aquaflow Bionomic Corp announced a twin-pronged breakthrough.

The company is a world leader in research and development of third generation biofuels produced from algae that feed on industrial and human waste, rather than the displacement of essential food crops.

The significant advantages of such fuels is that they improve environmental quality even before their use as cleaner-burning fuels; they are potentially much cheaper to produce; they do not increase food costs, and they can be produced perpetually over a fraction of the surface area needed for ethanol crops such as corn or sugar cane.

Aquaflow has patented a process for converting wild algae from sewage ponds into the next generation of biofuels.

But its new discovery is that on initial testing, this same process can turn streams heavily clogged with nutrients and green micro-algae into drinking water.

‘We’re using the same system to produce both fuel and clean water to address the two most significant global issues of energy and water security,’ said Aquaflow chairman, Barrie Leay. ‘It looks as though we have a dual-edged opportunity here which is very significant and almost overwhelming in its scale.’

Aquaflow launched its harvesting process on a commercial scale at New Zealand’s Marloborough sewage farm in March. The first samples of biocrude are just being produced now, and this pilot project has the potential to return 5 billion litres of water to local waterways annually.

Leay reports there have been significant inquiries from a range of major corporations and governments across the globe.

Not surprisingly, interest in the technology’s water remediation capabilities are running equal with interest in its potential to produce next generation carbon neutral fuels.