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You've likely heard of the innovative technology used to produce biofuel from algae. Algae biofuels are one of the most promising, intriguing forms of renewable energy currently in development—and even already in use.
Well, the world famous Italian travel hot spot has decided it wants in on the algae biofuel action—and to turn a nuisance into a boon at the same time. You see, algae are considered something of a scourge in Venice. It grows on the underside of boats, muddies up the canals, and detracts from the aesthetic beauty of the remarkable city. So the heads of the city must've gotten wind of the advances in algae biofuel developments sweeping the world (even Bill Gates is working with algae biofuels), and seen an intuitive, exciting solution to their problem.
But how much electricity does Venice possibly plan on generating from the renewable energy source? Any guesses?
Try an impressive 50%. That's half of the city's entire energy needs, met by scraping algae off the underside of water taxis. Okay, so that's not how they'll get all the algae—but they'll actually be doing that too. According to Yahoo! Green, the algae will be cultivated in a lab and converted into biofuels locally, and will be used to run a 40 MW turbine in the middle of the city. What's more, the power plant will be as close to carbon neutral as possible: any excess algae will be fed back into growing more algae (algae has a knack for absorbing CO2).
It all sounds pretty good—now, if only they'd ditch those noisy outboard motors for canoes.
More on Algae Biofuels
15 Algae Biofuels Startups to Watch
First Commercial Algae -to- Biofuels Facility Goes Online
New Company to Produce Biodiesel From Algae
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