Reply To: Remnant heat of Focus Fusion

[vansig]

vansig wrote:
But cheap energy will also increase the competitive advantage of virtually every recycling process.

Eventually, as fossil fuel resources are depleted, it will become cheaper to burn waste, capture the gases, pump them through algae tanks, and use sunlight to make bio-diesel. Cheap electricity comes into this equation, but it isn’t the lion’s share of costs.

So the question on my mind, is: at what price per barrel of oil will this make economic sense?

For soy-based bio-diesel, this price point is somewhere between $50 .. 70 / barrel.
— http://faircompanies.com/news/view/the-importance-biodiesel/

Note, though, that subsidized bio-fuels have been heavily criticized for absurd practices like rain-forest destruction, costly farming, and pushing up food prices.

“The cost of soybean oil needed to produce a gallon of biodiesel averages $3 [..misprint omitted..], where only $1.82 worth of crude oil is necessary to produce an equivalent gallon of fuel, according to Energy Information Administration statistics.”
— http://bioenergy.checkbiotech.org/news/illinois_biodiesel_industry_hurt_mired_tax_legislation

As bio-fuels become economically viable, demand for fossil oils will soften, thereby extending life time of wells.