Look out Kermit!

These are early days PR punts I'm guessing, so I won't accord them fully fledged category status as yet, but looks like your pond is a teeming fuel dump:

Indy - How to turn water into rocket fuel – scientists unlock power of the sun

Guardian - 'Oil from algae' promises climate friendly fuel

Both interesting, but also sort of focusing still on our desire to still combust, ultimately, rather than doing it less and less.

Still, it's nice to get a space story in without it being a major green eyebrow crank.

Powered by pond scum?

We have briefly mentioned the potential of algae for the production of bio-fuels before. This from Business Week paints an eyebrow raising picture of just how much investment is going into this particular pond. (Well, it didn't sound right to say field!)

Interesting to note just who some of the players are too. A number of the major industrial boys are already significantly into the race.

A pipe dream?

..... or a possible means of fixing more CO2 out of the atmosphere?

Following on from the iron filings idea, this from James Lovelock and Chris Rapley suggests building hundreds of thousands of massive vertical pipes in the oceans. Each pipe would have a one way valve at the bottom so that wave action near the top would draw nutrient rich water up from the ocean depths, providing a spur to more algal growth, which it turn will fix more CO2 from the atmosphere.

The full article is reported in New Scientist.

Just one little snaglet might be the fact that "as well as being rich in nutrients, water rising up the pipes will be rich in carbon - this could mean CO2 is released into the atmosphere."

Oh well, it sounded like a good idea at first.

ADDENDUM (from Junkk Male) - Guardian - How sea tubes could slow climate change

Yes, I suppose they 'could'. But as mans's meddling with nature is not quite working out at a success rate that's enviable, maybe it's more down to whether they 'should'.

TELEGRAPH - James Lovelock's plan to pump ocean water to stop climate change