Ok here is my idea for some nice green fuel.

The worlds Oceans have quite a problem with Algal blooms, great choking masses algae that grow for many miles in places and cut out the light to the Ocean below. Scientists think that these are caused by excessive nitrates and phosphates in the water because of all the artificial fertilizer man puts on the earth. It is a problem that is getting worse. Doing something to help would be worth-while on its own. Doing something that also gets us a large amount of 'green' energy is well worth some thought.

What I am wondering is if it would be viable to lift this nasty stuff from the sea, in much the same way as Oil slicks are dealt with. It could be compressed and dried into fuel pellets that would be the ultimate green fuel. If we make a return to steam powered ships the whole operation could be self sustaining. Ships could burn the very fuel pellets they make allowing them to reach the harvesting grounds and bring back holds full of pellets back with them to burn in power stations on land. This is green energy because the CO2 released is not extra carbon from the ancient times, it is what the algae has taken from the atmosphere just weeks before. If the ash from burning the fuel was not dumped at sea there is the extra advantage that at least some of the unwelcome nutrients are being removed from the marine system too.

Algae grows quickly so I would guess that even a large fleet of harvesting ships would not be able to deplete the resource.

I would be pleased to here from anyone in a position to do feasibility studies of this idea.

A lot of the research on using Algae has been on the holy grail of getting special strains to produce 'green petrol'. My idea is distinctly 'low-tech' compared to this. It would be a great shame if the solution to our impending dire energy shortage is overlooked just because someone cannot see how to extort money from the rest of the world with an Intellectual Property argument.

Sometimes you don't need high tech, just a common sense solution that is technologically within the grasp of any nation.