This is our first prototype. We are going to have three spots where we are going to be growing algae. At the bottom of the tank, we are going to collect it. We made sure that we put the algae on an angle so the maximum amount of sunlight could get at it. Thus, helping the algae grow.
This is the final prototype. We are going to have a circle where the algae will go around and around until it becomes biofuel.
This a sketch of our second prototype. We are going to have it like a lazy river. What is going to happen is the algae will float along the in a circle until it reaches the spin turbines. The turbines will spin algae and then create the diesel oil. We will collect this by putting a cup in the water and collecting the oil.
These are some of the sketches of our prototype. We wanted to make it that it was easier to collect the oil that the algae produce. Hense, we put it on an angle. Also, being on an angle, it will get the greatest amount of sunlight which will make it easier to grow. When the algae is grown it will create diesel oil. Are way of making the diesel is an environmentally friendly way of making it.
So why make Biodiesel out of Algae? Why not just continue biofuels out of other plants as well as just continuing to use fossil fuels? Well, the answer lies in what most factories produce, and that is CO₂. The problem with Co₂ is that it's a greenhouse gas and it absorbs a lot of heat and it's the second highest contributor to climate change topped only by water vapor and clouds. The next problem with it is that it doesn't go away for at the very least 35 years up to 90 years. So want can algae do about all of this? Algae to survive takes in CO₂ and converts it to O₂ and it is one of the most efficient plants. 70-80 % of all air is produced by algae in the ocean.
