I've had no time at all to research this area yet but I'm looking forward to when i do!
I'm like you Tricky - the concept struck me in the same way as when i discovered CNM. But i did learn a lesson with CNM. When i first bought them at 3c i had no idea what other "wave power" systems there were in the world. I just thought CETO had huge potential so i bought up. Thankfully, now that i do know what else is out there, i still think that CETO has the best design with the most potential (which will hopefully be realised).
Which is a long winded way of saying i really want to get this decision right. I dont want to back the wrong horse.
The valcent video was pretty persuasive but after a very very quick scan of some articles, the thing that stood out most to me, were these comments by "Livefuels" which i think is backed by the Dave Gelbaum that Jaded referred to:
"LiveFuels plans to take a different tack, without the bioreactors espoused by companies like GreenFuel and others.
"The company is going to grow vast amounts of biomass, we hope, and very cheaply, and we'll be doing it in open ponds."
"It's got to be like the semiconductor business. You throw a fair amount of capital equipment at it, but you ultimately start cranking out a very cheap product," said Morgenthaler-Jones.
"I think venture capitalists have been largely fooled by photobioreactors and genetic modification. I believe both are useful for certain purposes, and we'll make use of both in small amounts, but the fact of the matter is, the capital expenditures of photobioreactors will simply kill a company."
"LiveFuels expects genetically modified algae to be a dead end, given the years of regulatory approval required, and the expected difficulty for engineered 'hothouse microbes' to compete with indigenous organisms that have evolved over millions of years for specific light levels, temperatures, annual climates and PH levels."
I like the ruthless and rational business thinking behind "Livefuels" approach. It's the same sort of thinking that led Burns to develop CETO with the attributes it's got - the mass produced units that can be transported using shipping containers, easy maintenance with no elecricity under water etc. That style of thinking excites. You can't save the environment if you can't make a profit, so i want to back the horse that knows the best and fastest way to a sustainable profit.
So that's what i've deduced from 10 minutes of reading! As i say, i know nothing! But thanks for responding to this post.
