Leading the Fight to Wean Pennsylvania and the Nation off Foreign Oil, Reduce Carbon Emissions, and Create Thousands of Jobs

By David R. Kessler

Rep. Kessler's plan: To build first-of-it's-kind fuel plants in Pennsylvania that use the energy of algae to produce oil, electricity, and fertilizer. The proposed plant would produce 8,000 barrels of fuel per day. 940,000 acres of corn are needed to produce 8,000 barrels of ethanol, but only 820 acres of algae are needed to produce 8,000 barrels of fuel with this new technology.

"We need permanent jobs, new-technology jobs, in order to turn Pennsylvania around," Rep. Kessler recently told WFMZ-TV : "This could be a big piece of the puzzle."

He has been meeting with the director of renewable energy from the Raytheon Co. as well as senior executives from Accelergy Corp. of Houston and A2BE Carbon Capture LLC/ Algae at work of Boulder Colo. Since November 2009 to make presentations on the upcoming plans.

The technology works by gasifying algae, mixed with coal and/or coal waste. That produces a cleaner, more efficient gasoline, diesel and jet fuel that could be sold for less than today's prices and could be used by existing cars and trucks. This initiative could benefit national security by providing a clean, domestic, fuel for our military. Fuel samples are being sent to the U.S. Air Force labs in Dayton, Ohio for approval.

By gasifying the coal and/or coal waste there is no ash or sulfur emissions left over. Then, what's left of the algae can be used as fertilizer. Even better, using algae to create fuel would make clean coal even cleaner. Algae lives off of carbon dioxide, so the technology captures the CO2 from the coal plant and pumps it into the algae to accelerate the growth. The algae then converts the carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Once built, the plant would create a ripple effect of thousands of jobs and increased energy independence.

"We hear that phrase so often: Wean ourselves off of foreign oil." Rep. Kessler said. "This could be the answer. "Pennsylvania could be the leader"