Talk:Botryococcus braunii
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[edit] biodiesel vs. diesel
Bobkeyes 21:39, 6 November 2006 (UTC) Waitak, thanks your your encouragement and cleanup. However, your changes in the first paragraph makes the article incorrect. Botryococcus braunii oil is not cracked to biodiesel, but rather to diesel, gasoline, and kerosene. It is important to distinguish between origin (fossil or biological) and chemical makeup. The end-product of Botryococcus oil hydrocracking would chemically be indistinguishable from these fuels of fossil origin. This is one of the reasons why this algae has such great possibilities, as engines and processes currently using petroleum-derived fuels would not have to be modified. This is also one of the drawbacks, as the pollution caused by the burning of these petroleum-based fuels will still be present. I'll address this point in the article as it develops.
Perhaps I need to change the wording, to show that the chemicals produced are not biodiesel, but biologically derived exact replacements for petroleum fuels.
[edit] Seperate hydrocracking
Hydrocracking of the pufa's from botyrococcus braunii does not have anything to do with the species itself. I'm taking it out of the introduction and starting a new section. I don't care about deriving biofuels from this species of algae, my interest is in the biotechnical aspect of producing Omega 3 linolenic acids for pharmecuticals. The introduction should just describe the species itself, and not its potential uses.
Bobkeyes writes: Please identify yourself when making changes. From your IP address, it appears you are associated with Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Until you identify yourself, I will refer to you as GVSU. Also, I disagree with at least one of the changes you have made. In the introduction, you claim that Bb oils are not as useful in biofuel applications. Which oils are you comparing it to? Bb oil is indeed useful in fuel applications and this is well supported in research. However I do not know how well it is suited for trans-esterification. Additionally, you claim that Bb has a thick cell wall. Regardless of whether this is true or not, it is immaterial, as the major portion of the oil is extracellular. I think that your changes should be proposed here in the 'talk' section before you apply them. GVSU, please don't take offense at my comments - I hope we can agree on the structure of this article and I look forward to seeing anything you can add regarding pharmaceutical use of Bb.
