Consider algae as alternative biofuel

Charles Krauthammer’s March 20 column blasting President Obama’s oil policy was way off base and greatly distorted. Just more Republican bashing of Obama — after a while this gets pretty old.

I am not a fan of President Obama, but we all have to realize that oil will not last forever. We must come up with alternative sources of fuel. There has been a good start with natural gas. Natural gas is now cheaper than oil due to fracking, but you need supply terminals.

Large companies like Waste Management and UPS are now using natural gas on their large trucks. It is expensive to convert from oil to gas ($40,000 to $80,000 per vehicle), but these companies are doing it to save money in the long run and help clean the environment.

Why not covert algae into a biofuel? If this can be done cheaply enough, the fuel could be used in your car with no conversion. You would be able to fill up at your regular gas station. United Airlines has already flown a plane from Dallas to Chicago using fuel made from algae.

I guess Krauthammer thinks that we should just keep doing what we have been doing in the past and continue to subsidizing oil companies with billions of taxpayer dollars. I’m not sure why he thinks $14 million is a lot of money to invest in developing a new fuel. China on the other hand is investing $1 billion to develop fuel from algae.

Mike Brown

Mount Prospect