100 Million Barrels of Plankton Power

Scoop up plankton from the sea. Feed it a steady diet of nutrient-rich waste water. The resulting processed biodiesel, say the creators of Plankton Power, can literally replace fossil fuels in existing heating systems. Even better, the new Biofuel will be cost-competitive with existing fuels.

Plankton Power is now partnering with the Regional Technology Development Corp. (RTDC) of Cape Cod to create a facility in Bourne, Mass., to develop better algae biodiesel — and to produce it on a large scale. A very large scale. In fact, according to a Newswise article, the company anticipates producing as much as 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year — enough to meet "5 percent of the demand for diesel and home heating fuel in the state of Massachusetts."

Making fuel is just one part of the larger vision on Cape Cod. The hope is to leverage scientific know-how based on the Cape to create an "incubator for cutting-edge initiatives on algae as fuel, wind and solar energy, and unmanned aircraft for joint military and oceanographic research."

Given that The Cape Cod Algae Biorefinery Consortium has already submitted a $20 million proposal to the US Department of Energy, there's a real possibility that the dream will come through.

Hmmm ... Shell replaced by plankton ... not such a huge leap after all.