algOS - The Oil from Algae OS @ ideOS.org

ideas Open Source!

The Oil from Algae OS is an attempt at an open source model for finding the best methods to produce biodiesel from algae.

How does it work?

World over, a few passionate people are trying to figure out ways to derive oil from various species of algae in order to make biodiesel. While there are other crops as well whose oils can be used to produce biodiesel ( see www.bdpedia.com for more inputs), algae present a very interesting proposition because they have few of the drawbacks other feedstock have ( for instance large-scale deforestation or competition with the feedstock usage in food etc). The site Oilgae.com provides more inputs in this regard.

We feel that this is an apt domain in which an open source collaborative research model could help. The idea is to aggregate research inputs from a variety of experts all over the world in order to arrive at a full-cycle design for biodiesel production from algae. All assets that will be created will be governed by laws similar to those of GNU GPL & Copyleft, or possibly the same rules. Under these, every one of the users have the right to modify the designs and pass on these designs to anyone else. We feel that rather than having proprietary companies develop sub-optimal designs of their own and then have a monopoly on oil production, an open source design platform will ensure (a) that the design is more robust because many more experts are involved in it, and (b) its open nature will imply that many, many people small and large all over the world can use this technology to provide benefits to one of the most pressing problems we are facing today – energy.

If you are interested in knowing further about how you can contribute as well towards algOS, you can send a note to narsi@esource.in . We will soon be coming up with an online submission form, for the time being please bear with us and send your requests through email.

We look forward to hearing from you

The algOS Team @ ideOS