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Continental Airlines announced Monday that they are planning the first biofuel-powered demonstration flight of a U.S. commercial airliner, which will be conducted in Houston on Jan. 7, 2009.  The flight will be operated with no passengers and powered by a special fuel blend derived from both algae and jatropha plants.  These sustainable, second-generation fuel sources are a much more viable solution than the more common agriculturally based biofuels - like corn and soy based ethanols. 
 
Since their beginnings, scientists have been proving that corn and soy based biofuels -which are most often used today - actually do more harm to the planet than good.  The production of these first generation biofuels has already had a major impact on food crops and water resources, they've led to deforestation (including the rainforest) and they actually lead to an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere.  Algae biofuel on the other hand, does none of that. 

• Algae production does not compete with agriculture so it won't affect the production or land needed for growing food crops. 

• The facilities that produce algae don't require any soil for growth and they use over 90% less water than most conventional agriculture. 

• Since Algae thrives on a high concentration of carbon dioxide it's production can actually help clean up the atmosphere.  According to Solix, an algae biofuel producer, "since nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant of power plants is a nutrient for the algae, production facilities can feed exhaust gases from fossil fuel power plants to significantly increase productivity and clean up the air."

• Algae's growth and productivity is 30 to 100 times higher than crops like soybeans.

But if it's so powerful, why hasn't Algae been getting more attention?  The problem is politics. Corn and soy lobbyists have been in Washington for decades so they have a lot of backing, but Algae is such a new technology that it simply hasn't received the funding it needs.  On Monday, that could all change. The Seattle based Algal Biomass Organization will be visiting Washington DC to decide how to convince Congress of the power of this pond scum. And this test flight, timed perfectly with the beginning of the Obama administrations inauguration, might just be exactly what the algae biofuel production companies need to get their often overlooked product some much needed attention and funding.

If congress decides to move (as they should), we might be able to get our hands on this biofuel for our own cars within the next few years.  In fact, a company called Sapphire has already produced an algae based gasoline that has a 91 octane rating and meets fuel quality standards.  Things are looking good for this powerful pond scum.

Article Originally Written By: Melissa Evans