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Synthetic hydrocarbons for many purposes

Russ Babcock
Canada
2021
Photo above - algae growing on rivers, lakes, and oceans. Three possibilities to replace fossil fuels for transportation are: a) synthetic hydrocarbons, b) hydrogen, and c) electric vehicles. Hydrogen and electric vehicles involve significant changes to the infrastructure for fossil fuels, new environmental immpact, or new risks. Synthetic hydrocarbons are the closest alternative to fossil fuels, involve the least new risks, and have the least new impact on the environment. Producing synthetic hydrocarbons from algae may be the best energy for many transportation systems once fossil fuels are no longer available. Sythetic hydrocarbons can replace fossil fuels in by-products. Hydrogen and batteries for electric vehicles can not.

Through the process of photosynthesis, and with the power of the sun (specific UV wavelengths), and naturally occurring chemicals such as chlorophyll, and invivo reactor sites provided by naturally occurring enzymes, we know how to produce gigatons of feedstock for our hydrocarbon production process from CO2. Algae farms might be our best alternative to accomplishing this part.