NASA shows off new algae farming technique for making biofuel

NASA shows off new algae farming technique for making biofuel:

Trent says with a real farm, the carbon dioxide come could from nearby power plants, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of thewhole process. Not helping, on theother hand, is that the whole scheme is based on petroleum based plastic bags, which in addition to their inherent carbon footprint would also have to be disposed of once a year as they degrade in saltwater. Trent suggests that California farmer’s could use them as field cover instead of the large tarps they currently use. He also says that if one or more of the bags should break, like say in a storm, there is no worry as the algae would die in the seawater and the wastewater released would be thesame as wastewater facilities suchas those in San Francisco already pump into the bay.
At this point it seems clear that a new type of plastic will need to be developed for the project to become viable, especially if it is to be ported to space exploration applications at some point; perhaps one made from biodegradable material so that it could be grown along the way, and then could be used as fertilizer afterwards. 



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