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By: Johan Young
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A group of researchers from Tokyo University (Marine Science and Technology), Mitsubishi Research Institute, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and several other private-sector firms envision a 10,000 square kilometer seaweed farm at Yamatotai, a shallow fishing area in the middle of the Sea of Japan. The researchers estimate that the farm will produce about twenty million kiloliters of bioethanol per year. This is equate to one third of Japanese fuel consumption per year.

Algae/seaweed has long been discussed as an alternative option to produce bio fuel. Generally biofuel these days is produced from corn and sugar cane. According to the proposal the algae to be grown in the farm is from sargasso seaweed (hondawara). This type of algae grows rapidly.

There will be floating bioreactors, these are special facilities that use enzyme to break the seaweed down into sugars. The seaweed would then be set for conversion into ethanol. The conversion will be done at sea and tankers then transport the ethanol to land.

There are two main components of algae/seaweed that raise interest in producing bioethanol. They are Fucoidan and Alginic Acid. While an enzyme for breaking down fucoidan has already been discovered, the
scientists are looking for an enzyme that breaks down alginic acid. They are also looking at the possibility of genetically modifying the algae.

The group is also conducting investigate on how to develop the production plants and attract investment. Other participants in the project include NEC Toshiba Space Systems, Mitsubishi Electric, IHI, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Shimizu Corporation, Toa Corporation, Kanto Natural Gas Development Co., Ltd., and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

The researchers argue that in addition to serving as a source of fuel, the seaweed will also serve a noble duty by cleaning the Sea of Japan. According to Professor Masahiro Notoya from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the seaweed would work to eliminate some of the excess nutrient salts that flow into the sea from the surrounding land masses.

Here some advantages fo algae/seaweed compared to other biofuels such as corn, sugar cane, and palm oil:
- Algae/seaweed doesn’t need soil and fresh water as other agricultural biofuel producer crops desperately do. Some critics say that the cultivation of massive agricultural crops to produce bio fuel demand very large acres of land, that makes it uneconomical and potentially damage the environment.
- Algae/seaweed grow 10 times faster than sugar cane. It is the fastest growing crop.
Because some algae/seaweed species are oil rich, the amount of oil we can collect from them is hundreds of times greater than the amount of oil that can be collected from an equal amount of a traditional, plant-based, biodiesel feedstock like soybeans.
- Algae/seaweed remove great amounts of CO2 from the air. Algae farms are glutton eaters of CO2 gas providing a means for recycling waste CO2 from fossil fuel combustion.
- Food price will rise as the effect of more land is taken away to produce biofuel.

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