Algae Used To Produce Green Plastics, Sans Petroleum

Algae-derived plastics could cut more than half of the petroleum currently used in traditional production

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 10.30.2009 at 1:30 pm 6 Comments

Green Sporks It's made of algae!

Algae have come a long way in our post-fossil-fuels energy situation: Now the same green scum that covers water and other surfaces could soon be enlisted to make biodegradable green plastics for your picnic cutlery.

That greener future comes courtesy of Cereplast, a California-based firm that has already made renewable plastics using starches from the likes of tapioca, corn, wheat and potatoes. The company says that algae bioplastics could eliminate 50 percent or more of the petroleum that usually goes into making traditional plastic.

The technology remains in the development stages, but Cereplast has already approached other companies about using algae as a natural carbon dioxide and nitrous gas scrubber for industrial smokestacks. The algae could then be harvested daily as either biofuel or material for Cereplast's bioplastics.

Algae has cropped frequently as a possible biofuel for everything from cars to Virgin Atlantic jetliners. A company called Algenol has looked at converting the carbon dioxide produced by algae farms into ethanol for making plastics, as a more roundabout method. And one startup called Livefuels has even taken the novel approach of squeezing algae-fed fish for oil.

If Cereplast has truly hit upon a cost-effective conversion method for algae, kudos -- but for now it joins more than 50 other firms working to make algae part of the renewable future.

[Greenbang via Fast Company]

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6 Comments

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Photoprinter

10/30/09 at 4:34 pm

"about using algae as a natural carbon dioxide and nitrous gas scrubber for industrial smokestacks" Several years ago, a 3M plant here tried an algae scrubber for it's exhaust. Before the install, it smelled like Scotch Tape. After, is smelled like sulfur. Stunk BAD! We lived about 4 miles away, and when the wind was right, you did not open your windows. I felt sorry for the folks that lived real close. The city finally made them shut it down. I hope the technology has improved.

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orangebloodedal

10/30/09 at 6:06 pm

We have such an insatiable appetite for plastic we will make it from any source. Hope the spoon is biodegradable and palitable when we eat with it. We need to finish eating and chew it up for dessert because it tastes like ice cream and is full of vitamins. We will genetically alter it to make it produce more and mess that up somehow. As soon as algae makes it to the endangered species list we will be in trouble once again. Algae is edible. Most plastics last forever.

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orangebloodedal

10/30/09 at 6:11 pm

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thor0997

10/30/09 at 10:03 pm

Or we could just let is degrade naturaly in the environment. I know that algae will not go into endangerd.

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dsci4evo

11/01/09 at 5:51 pm

Great innovative idea. It would be nice to see this use of Algae in this format as mainstream.

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