"The big problem is going to be scaling it up ... and figuring out how to deal with storms at sea," Trent said. "But this country is good at engineering things," he added. "To quote Harry Truman, 'There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.'" An offshore algae farm could have some serious environmental issues, points out Carmela Cuomo, a marine scientist at the University of New Haven in Connecticut who is researching algae strains for biofuel use. "I'm not knocking the idea, but I'd want to know a lot more about it," she told Discovery News. Cuomo said waste water that has been treated enough to be dumped into the ocean probably wouldn't have enough nutrients for algae to thrive, and untreated waste water could pose a threat if the membrane should rip. She also pointed out that the algae farms would have to be fairly close to the ocean's surface for sunlight to penetrate, which could be an issue for boaters. The main problem with algae, whether grown on land or sea, is how to get enough of it. "To be able to replace a Shell (Oil Co.), you're going to need a lot of algae." Related Links: TreeHugger: 15 Algae Biofuel Startups to Watch |
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