(UPDATE April 24th) [GM] Joule Creates Renewable Fossil Fuels At Unlimited Quantity.

frickfrock999 · Jan 18, 2011

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/a-brave-new-world-of-fossil-fuels-on-demand/article1871149/
Quote:

In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for "a proprietary organism" - a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium - that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (U.S.) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, "fossil fuels on demand."

At long last!

We are SAVED!

EDIT 6/3/2011:

A big update on this project, Joule just secured a few sites for production.

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2011/joule-secures-first-multiple-sites-host-solar-fuel-production
Quote:

Cambridge, Mass. - May 5, 2011 - Marking another milestone in its advance towards commercialization, Joule Unlimited, Inc. today announced the signing of a lease agreement providing access to 1,200 acres in Lea County, New Mexico, with the potential to scale the project up to 5,000 acres for production of renewable diesel and ethanol directly from sunlight and waste CO2. The agreement with Lea County is the first to be completed as part of Joule's production facility siting program.

Edit #2: 7/13/11

They've crafted a board of strategy, including Ex-Monsanto members.

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2011/joule-introduces-strategic-advisory-board
Quote:

Joule today announced the charter members of its strategic advisory board, encompassing wide-ranging expertise in oil & energy, biotech corporate strategy and international business leadership.

Joule's strategic advisory board is chaired by Cheryl Morley, who spent 26 years in a number of leadership roles with Monsanto Company, a global leader in the agricultural industry. As Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy she oversaw mergers, acquisitions and Monsanto's venture fund.

Armen Sarkissian is a former Prime Minister of Armenia and the founding President of Eurasia House International, which fosters critical dialogue and cooperation among political and business leaders. A well-known civic leader, he holds honorary and executive positions in numerous international organizations, including the role of Chairman of the Global Council on Energy Security for the World Economic Forum.

Peter Tertzakian is Chief Energy Economist and Managing Director at ARC Financial Corp., where he is a member of the Executive, Investment and Strategy committees. His background in geophysics, economics and finance has established him as an internationally recognized expert in energy matters, as well as the best-selling author of A Thousand Barrels A Second and The End of Energy Obesity.

Update 1/23/2012

Source
Quote:

Joule today announced the appointment of two key executives to manage the company's roll-out of renewable fuel production facilities worldwide. .Peter Erich has joined as Executive Vice President, General Manager Commercial Operations, and will lead the team responsible for site development and technology deployment. Paul Snaith has been appointed to build and manage the related partnerships as Head of Business Development & Strategy. Both are veterans of the energy industry with long, successful track records in global management, product development and sales at several relevant companies, including Shell. This growing, specialized team will help to enable commercialization of Joule's fuel products to begin as soon as 2013.

Update 4/23/13

I'm speechless.
I literally have no words.

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2013/joule-extends-solar-co2-conversion-platform-produce-renewable-gasoline-and-jet-fuel
Quote:

Joule today announced another industry first in renewable fuel production: the direct conversion of waste CO2 into the essential components of gasoline and jet fuel. The breakthrough gives Joule the opportunity to expand its Sunflow™ product line and help address global demand for true hydrocarbon fuel replacements. In addition, the process uses waste CO2 as a feedstock, allowing industrial emitters to produce valuable fuels rather than discard emissions or employ costly measures for capture and sequestration.

Raul-7 · Jan 18, 2011

Time to bring back V10 F1 cars.

frickfrock999 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raul-7

Time to bring back V10 F1 cars.

I can finally host my famous Tupperware parties without guilt

AblueXKRS · Jan 18, 2011

Omg I heard about this listening to RadioLab LAST NIGHT. I thought it was something like 20 years away and/or the oil companies would burn the lab to the ground to hide the research.

IF it's real, then

lordikon · Jan 18, 2011

Wow, if this is as good as it sounds (it rarely is), then the middle east can kiss our ***. It'd be great to have no dependence on foreign oil whatsoever. However, global warming activists won't be happy about this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdmiralThrawn

Omg I heard about this listening to RadioLab LAST NIGHT. I thought it was something like 20 years away and/or the oil companies would burn the lab to the ground to hide the research.

IF it's real, then

Good point, this will never see the light of day.

_02 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordikon

Good point, this will never see the light of day.

I don't see how an oil company could keep this quiet. It seems like there would be an incredible amount of money to be made in reducing the cost of oil to the populous, and someone would be willing to run with it.

I'd burn my face off before I'd let an oil company stifle progress.

FairDoos · Jan 18, 2011

So will cars perform the same or will they perform better? e.g. performance and economy?

frickfrock999 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by _02

I'd burn my face off before I'd let an oil company stifle progress.

Not to mention, these guys have been under wraps for a loooong time.

Trust me, they have safeguards in place to combat such obstacles.

ArmenianLegend · Jan 18, 2011

YES, Iâ€™ll be able to drive my 300zxTT a lot more often!!!

funky882 · Jan 18, 2011

How far away is this? i'm talking about when the gas prices start to fall everywhere.

Skripka · Jan 18, 2011

Just because you patented it doesn't necessarily mean it works or you can do anything with it.

flamingoyster · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skripka

Just because you patented it doesn't necessarily mean it works or you can do anything with it.

Paragraph three:

Quote:

Joule says it now has â€œa libraryâ€ of fossil-fuel organisms at work in its Massachusetts labs, each engineered to produce a different fuel. It has â€œproven the process,â€ has produced ethanol (for example) at a rate equivalent to 10,000 U.S. gallons an acre a year. It anticipates that this yield could hit 25,000 gallons an acre a year when scaled for commercial production, equivalent to roughly 800 barrels of crude an acre a year.

Jesus christ. This may be the biggest breakthrough of the decade.

lordikon · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by _02

I don't see how an oil company could keep this quiet. It seems likethere would be an incredible amount of money to be made in reducing the cost of oil to the populous, and someone would be willing to run with it.

I'd burn my face off before I'd let an oil company stifle progress.

Don't underestimate hundreds of corrupt politicians.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamingoyster

Jesus christ. This may be the biggest breakthrough of the decade.

Lets not bring religion into this.

Skripka · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamingoyster

Jesus christ. This may be the biggest breakthrough of the decade.

And set non-fossil fuel efforts back decades.

Raul-7 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by _02

I don't see how an oil company could keep this quiet. It seems likethere would be an incredible amount of money to be made in reducing the cost of oil to the populous, and someone would be willing to run with it.

I'd burn my face off before I'd let an oil company stifle progress.

Why? We are forced to pay their prices regardless. Making oil cheaper only hurts their profits.

This discovery ultimately benefits them.

B!0HaZard · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordikon

However, global warming activists won't be happy about this.

The bacteria feeds exclusively on CO2. Global warming activists can't argue that this is a bad idea.

Cata1yst · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skripka

And set non-fossil fuel efforts back decades.

While youre at it, why dont you complain that we dont have faster than light travel....

Progress is progress, this is nothing to sneeze at. We can pull out the middle east and spend less military resources in the area. Less money going out for oil means more money inside the states, which means our debt rate should decrease.

frickfrock999 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamingoyster

Jesus christ. This may be the biggest breakthrough of the decade.

May?

Skripka · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by B!0HaZard

The bacteria feeds on CO2. Global warming activists can't argue that this is a bad idea.

CO2 ain't the only greenhouse gas grasshopper. And besides, the process may use CO2, but I'll bet money the gases burned out the tailpipes in cars outweigh the gases used to make the fuel.

SHNS0 · Jan 18, 2011

Bacteria, huh?
"Honey, could you give me the rest of the turkey you cooked last week? My car's almost dry!"

flamingoyster · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by frickfrock99

May?

Decade's just begun, big guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skripka

CO2 ain't the only greenhouse gas grasshopper. And besides, the process may use CO2, but I'll bet money the gases burned out the tailpipes in cars outweigh the gases used to make the fuel.

Paragraph 5:

Quote:

Joule says its "solar converter" technology makes the manufacture of liquid fossil fuels 50 times as efficient as conventional biofuel production - and eliminates as much as 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions.

How long are we going to play this game, buddy?

Skripka · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cata1yst

While youre at it, why dont you complain that we dont have faster than light travel....

Progress is progress, this is nothing to sneeze at. We can pull out the middle east and spend less military resources in the area. Less money going out for oil means more money inside the states, which means our debt rate should decrease.

"Progress", is that what you call this? Really?

We've had fuel-cell cars that burn NO gas and only put out H20 for 50 years now. Heck. Chrysler invented the prototype. Dirt cheap gas is one of several things that keep such things from being common.

Chevrolet just sank billions into an electric car program, that may well go belly-up after this.

Poseiden · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by FairDoos

So will cars perform the same or will they perform better? e.g. performance and economy?

They will perform the same since the oil won't make that much of a difference in performance in your car. And higher grade fuels only help so much. Cars still perform to what the engine is built to go at.

But this sounds like a great breakthrough and hopefully gas will go below $3/gallon here in idaho.

B!0HaZard · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skripka

CO2 ain't the only greenhouse gas grasshopper. And besides, the process may use CO2, but I'll bet money the gases burned out the tailpipes in cars outweigh the gases used to make the fuel.

I don't think it's possible to produce more gases than you use to create the oil... But I'm not that far in my education

assaulth3ro911 · Jan 18, 2011

Quote:

a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium â€" that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline.

This renews things that is already there (the carbon dioxide that is already there) and re-using it, therefore halting global warming, while we get more solar power out there.

ez12a · Jan 18, 2011

If this is true then yay. Been looking into some Acura TL 6MTs. I was not looking forward to the prospect of running out of combustible fuel.

(UPDATE April 24th) [GM] Joule Creates Renewable Fossil Fuels At Unlimited Quantity.

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