Algae Neg

Algae Neg
Plans
MS - Plan: The United States federal government should give financial
incentives for algae biofuels in US territorial oceanic waters.
Advantages: Climate Change (Warming, Food Security), Economy
Notes: Recreational boating solves the aff, fishing da.
CM Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially

increase incentives for algae biofuel production.
Advantages: Food vs. Fuel, Warming, Green Tech Leadership, Peak Oil
T - Extraction
A. Ocean development is extraction from the ocean
Hibbard et al 10 K. A. Hibbard, R. Costanza, C. Crumley, S. van der
Leeuw, and S. Aulenbach, J. Dearing, J. Morais, W. Steffen, Y. Yasuda --International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. 2010
Developing an
Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE): Research Plan
IGBP Report No. 59.
http://www.igbp.net/download/18.1b8ae20512db692f2a680006394/report_59
-IHOPE.pdf
A common characteristic of human-in-environment development is
extraction and consumption of natural resources. A typical response to the
exhaustion of these resources has been to move to new regions where
continued extraction and consumption is possible. These migrations have
led to colonisation of new areas, conflict and displacement of indigenous
populations, introduction of new species, and so on. Only quite recently in
human history has the ability to occupy new lands become limited by
geopolitical constraints. New frontiers are now associated with
technological advances that are used to overcome local constraints of
resource availability.
B. The plan violates it doesnt extract resources from

one of the 5 layers.
Knight 13 J.D. Knight, Sea and Sky 2013 The Sea Creatures of the
Deep Sea"
http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/ocean-layers.html
Layers of the Ocean
Scientists have divided the ocean into five main layers. These layers,
known as "zones", extend from the surface to the most extreme depths
where light can no longer penetrate. These deep zones are where some of the most
bizarre and fascinating creatures in the sea can be found. As we dive deeper into these largely
unexplored places, the temperature drops and the pressure increases at an astounding rate. The
following diagram lists each of these zones in order of depth.
Limits are necessary for negative preparation and clash.

T and Extra-T voters
Case
Warming
1NC Frontline
Warming is irreversible regardless of CO2 emissions- even
complete cessation does not solve.
Solomon 08 Susan Solomon, Chemical Sciences Division, Earth System
Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions, Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Dec 16,
2008, Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/6/1704.long, Accessed
on: 7/17/2014, IJ)
Over the 20th century, the atmospheric concentrations of key greenhouse
gases increased due to human activities. The stated objective (Article 2) of
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to
achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at
a low enough level to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with
the climate system. Many studies have focused on projections of possible
21st century dangers (13). However, the principles (Article 3) of the UNFCCC
specifically emphasize threats of serious or irreversible damage,
underscoring the importance of the longer term. While some irreversible
climate changes such as ice sheet collapse are possible but highly uncertain
(1, 4), others can now be identified with greater confidence, and examples
among the latter are presented in this paper. It is not generally appreciated
that the atmospheric temperature increases caused by rising carbon dioxide
concentrations are not expected to decrease significantly even if carbon
emissions were to completely cease (57) (see Fig. 1). Future carbon dioxide
emissions in the 21st century will hence lead to adverse climate changes on
both short and long time scales that would be essentially irreversible
(where irreversible is defined here as a time scale exceeding the end of the
millennium in year 3000; note that we do not consider geo-engineering
measures that might be able to remove gases already in the atmosphere or
to introduce active cooling to counteract warming). For the same reason, the
physical climate changes that are due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide
already in the atmosphere today are expected to be largely irreversible. Such
climate changes will lead to a range of damaging impacts in different regions
and sectors, some of which occur promptly in association with warming, while
others build up under sustained warming because of the time lags of the
processes involved. Here we illustrate 2 such aspects of the irreversibly
altered world that should be expected. These aspects are among reasons for
concern but are not comprehensive; other possible climate impacts include
Arctic sea ice retreat, increases in heavy rainfall and flooding, permafrost
melt, loss of glaciers and snowpack with attendant changes in water supply,
increased intensity of hurricanes, etc. A complete climate impacts review is
presented elsewhere (8) and is beyond the scope of this paper. We focus on
illustrative adverse and irreversible climate impacts for which 3 criteria are
met: (i) observed changes are already occurring and there is evidence for
anthropogenic contributions to these changes, (ii) the phenomenon is based
upon physical principles thought to be well understood, and (iii) projections

are available and are broadly robust across models.
Algae biofuels cant transition away higher GHG

emissions, petroleum dependency, peak phosphorus, and
lack of supply
Schelmetic 13 (Tracey Schelmetic, technology and science editor at
Appleton & Lange, contributor to ThomasNet, Biofuel from Algae Part One:
The Pros and Cons of Pond Scum, ThomasNet, February 22, 2013,
http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/02/19/biofuel-from-algae-part-one-thepros-and-cons-of-pond-scum/)//CS
While algae-based biofuel may use far less land and have a higher energy
yield than other biodiesel crops, its production also requires more energy and
water (albeit not necessarily fresh water) than plant sources such as corn. It also has higher greenhouse
gas emissions. The reason is that the production of the final product is more
complex and therefore more energy intensive. While many kinds of algae are
easy to cultivate, the species of the plant that contain the most fats are most
suitable for biodiesel, and these specialized lipid-producers are a bit fussier
than ordinary algae. Another challenge arises in the final algae-based biodiesel product: it simply doesnt flow well at lower
temperatures. In a paper entitled, Production and Properties of Biodiesel from Algal Oils, research chemist Gerhard Knothe of the U.S.
Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service made unexpected findings when it came to actually using algae biodiesel. He
many, if not most, of biodiesel fuels derived from algae have

significant problems when it comes to their ability to flow well at lower
temperatures (referred to as cold flow). In addition, he found that algae biofuels degrade more
easily than other types of biofuels. Knothe recommended that these cold flow issues might be solved by blending
found that
the algae fuels with other fuels or possibly special additives to improve flow. While algae biodiesel product is largely carbon neutral,
critics point out that it still requires carbon, and that carbon is
derived from petroleum-based sources, which means that algae
cultivation is still essentially dependent on petroleum . Ironically, algae biofuel could
actually be a victim of its own success: were it to supplant petroleum-based fuels on a large
scale, it would its most important source of carbon dioxide required for
production. The cultivation of algae (like the cultivation of most other plants) requires large
amounts of phosphorus as a fertilizer, and while its not an oftdiscussed topic, the world is currently on the brink of a peak of
availability of Earths finite phosphate resources. Peak phosphorus, as its called, is the
point in time at which the maximum global phosphorus production rate is reached. According to some researchers, Earths
phosphorus reserves are expected to be completely depleted in 50 to 100
years, and peak phosphorus will be reached by the year 2030 . (This is a fairly scary
prospect for global agriculture, not just for algae production). To succeed, large scale algae production will need to reduce its use of
phosphorus and find ways of reusing what it does require. The need for phosphorus in cultivation has been called by Forbes The Achilles
the world simply cant produce enough

algae through natural photosynthesis to sustain the worlds need for
fuel. Natural photosynthetic algae can produce about 2,000 gallons of fuel
per acre per year today: far short of world demand, and far short of what
scalable biofuel production requires to be economically feasible . For this reason, new
Heel of algae biofuel. Finally, many critics point out that
production methods are being sought by the companies trying to make algae biofuel work better.
Reject the climate alarmism of the 1AC their impacts are

not backed by peer-reviewed data
Idso, 11 (Craig D., PhD Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global
Change, 6/15/11, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Climate
Change, Estimates of Global Food Production in the Year 2050: Will We
Produce Enough to Adequately Feed the World? AS)
Many people have long believed that the ongoing rise in the airs carbon
dioxide or CO2 content has been causing the world to warm, due to the
greenhouse effect of this radiatively-active trace gas of the atmosphere;
and they believe that the planet will continue to warm for decades -- if not
centuries -- to come, based upon economic projections of the amounts of
future fossil fuel (coal, gas and oil) usage and climate-model projections of
the degree of global warming they expect to be produced by the CO2 that is
emitted to the atmosphere as a result of the burning of these fuels. The same
people have also long believed that CO2-induced global warming will lead to
a whole host of climate- and weather-related catastrophes, including more
frequent and severe floods, droughts, hurricanes and other storms, rising sea
levels that will inundate the planets coastal lowlands, increased human
illness and mortality, the widespread extinction of many plant and animal
species, declining agricultural productivity, frequent coral bleaching, and
marine life dissolving away in acidified oceans. And because of these
theoretical model-based projections, they have lobbied local, regional and
national governments for decades in an attempt to get the nations of the
world to severely reduce the magnitudes of their anthropogenic CO2
emissions. But are the scenarios painted by these climate alarmists true
portrayals of what the future holds for humanity and the rest of the biosphere
if their demands are not met? This is the question recently addressed in our
Centers most recent major report: Carbon Dioxide and Earths Future:
Pursuing the Prudent Path. In it, we describe the findings of many hundreds of
peer-reviewed scientific studies that analyzed real-world data pertaining to
the host of climate- and weather-related catastrophes predicted by the
worlds climate alarmists to result from rising global temperatures. The
approach of most of these studies was to determine if there had been any
increasing trends in the predicted catastrophic phenomena over the past
millennia or two, the course of the 20th century, or the past few decades,
when the worlds climate alarmists claim that the planet warmed at a rate
and to a degree that they contend was unprecedented over the past
thousand or two years. And the common finding of all of this research was a
resounding No! But even this near-universal repudiation of climate-alarmist
contentions has not been enough to cause them to alter their overriding goal
of reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Invoking the precautionary
principle, they essentially say that the potential climatic outcomes they
foresee are so catastrophic that we cannot afford to gamble upon them being
wrong, evoking the old adage that it is better to be safe than sorry, even if
the cost is staggering. If this were all there were to the story, we all would
agree with them. But it is not, for they ignore an even more ominous
catastrophe that is rushing towards us like an out-of-control freight train that
is only years away from occurring. And preventing this ominous future
involves letting the airs CO2 content continue its historical upward course,
until the age of fossil fuels gradually peaks and then naturally, in the course
of unforced innovation, declines, as other sources of energy gradually
become more efficient and less expensive, and without the forced
intervention of government.
2NC Warming Inevitable

Warming is unstoppable- new IPCC report doesnt account
for long term CO2 or the rate of CO2 uptake.
Eby et al 09 M. EBY, K. ZICKFELD, AND A. MONTENEGRO (School of
Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria) D. Archer (Department of
the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago) K.J Meissner and A.J Weaver
(School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria) (Lifetime of
Anthropogenic Climate Change: Millennial Time Scales of Potential CO2 and
Surface Temperature Perturbations, Journal of Climate, May 15, 2009,
Available at: http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2008JCLI2554.1,
Accessed On: 7/18/2014, IJ)
The projection of the climatic consequences of anthropogenic CO2 emissions

for the twenty-first century has been a major topic of climate research.
Nevertheless, the long-term consequences of anthropogenic CO2 remain
highly uncertain. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) reported that about 50% of a CO2 increase
will be removed from the atmosphere within 30 years and a further 30% will
be removed within a few centuries (Denmanet al. 2007, p. 501). Although
the IPCC estimate of the time to absorb 50% of CO2 is accurate for relatively
small amounts of emissions at the present time, this may be a considerable
underestimation for large quantities of emissions. Carbon sinks may become
saturated in the future, reducing the systems ability to absorb CO2.
Atmospheric CO2 is currently the dominant anthropogenic greenhouse gas
implicated in global warming (Forster et al. 2007); therefore, estimating the
lifetime of anthropogenic climate change will largely depend on the
perturbation lifetime of CO2. The perturbation lifetime is a measure of the
time over which anomalous levels of CO2 or temperature remain in the
atmosphere (defined here to be the time required for a fractional reduction to
1/e). Carbon emissions can be taken up rapidly by the land, through changes
in soil and vegetation carbon, and by dissolution in the surface ocean. Ocean
uptake slows as the surface waters equilibrate with the atmosphere and
continued uptake depends on the rate of carbon transport to the deep ocean.
Ocean uptake is enhanced through dissolution of existing CaCO3, often
referred to as carbonate compensation. As CO2 is taken up, the ocean
becomes more acidic, eventually releasing CaCO3 from deep sediments. This
increases the ocean alkalinity, allowing the ocean to take up additional CO2.
Carbonate compensation becomes important on millennial time scales,
whereas changes in the weathering of continental carbonate and silicate are
thought to become important on the 10 000 100 000-yr time scale (Archer
2005; Sarmiento and Gruber 2006; Lenton and Britton 2006).
Cease in Gases Wont Stop Warming From Being

Inevitable
Solomon 2010
(Susan, Atmospheric Chemist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, 11-11-10, Persistence of Climate Changes Due To A Range
Of Greenhouse Gases,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2972948/, HG)
Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases
increased over the course of the 20th century due to human activities. The
human-caused increases in these gases are the primary forcing that accounts
for much of the global warming of the past fifty years, with carbon dioxide
being the most important single radiative forcing agent (1). Recent studies
have shown that the human-caused warming linked to carbon dioxide is
nearly irreversible for more than 1,000 y, even if emissions of the gas were to
cease entirely (25). The importance of the ocean in taking up heat and
slowing the response of the climate system to radiative forcing changes has
been noted in many studies (e.g., refs. 6 and 7). The key role of the oceans
thermal lag has also been highlighted by recent approaches to proposed
metrics for comparing the warming of different greenhouse gases (8, 9).
Among the observations attesting to the importance of these effects are
those showing that climate changes caused by transient volcanic aerosol
loading persist for more than 5 y (7, 10), and a portion can be expected to
last more than a century in the ocean (1113); clearly these signals persist
far longer than the radiative forcing decay timescale of about 1218 mo for
the volcanic aerosol (14, 15). Thus the observed climate response to volcanic
events suggests that some persistence of climate change should be expected
even for quite short-lived radiative forcing perturbations. It follows that the
climate changes induced by short-lived anthropogenic greenhouse gases
such as methane or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) may not decrease in concert
with decreases in concentration if the anthropogenic emissions of those
gases were to be eliminated. In this paper, our primary goal is to show how
different processes and timescales contribute to determining how long the
climate changes due to various greenhouse gases could be expected to
remain if anthropogenic emissions were to cease. Advances in modeling have
led to improved AtmosphereOcean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) as
well as to Earth Models of Intermediate Complexity (EMICs). Although a
detailed representation of the climate system changes on regional scales can
only be provided by AOGCMs, the simpler EMICs have been shown to be
useful, particularly to examine phenomena on a global average basis. In this
work, we use the Bern 2.5CC EMIC (see Materials and Methods and SI Text),
which has been extensively intercompared to other EMICs and to complex
AOGCMs (3, 4). It should be noted that, although the Bern 2.5CC EMIC
includes a representation of the surface and deep ocean, it does not include
processes such as ice sheet losses or changes in the Earths albedo linked to
evolution of vegetation. However, it is noteworthy that this EMIC, although
parameterized and simplified, includes 14 levels in the ocean; further, its

global ocean heat uptake and climate sensitivity are near the mean of
available complex models, and its computed timescales for uptake of tracers
into the ocean have been shown to compare well to observations (16). A
recent study (17) explored the response of one AOGCM to a sudden stop of all
forcing, and the Bern 2.5CC EMIC shows broad similarities in computed
warming to that study (see Fig. S1), although there are also differences in
detail. The climate sensitivity (which characterizes the long-term absolute
warming response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentrations) is 3 C for the model used here. Our results should be
considered illustrative and exploratory rather than fully quantitative given the
limitations of the EMIC and the uncertainties in climate sensitivity. Results
One Illustrative Scenario to 2050. In the absence of mitigation policy,
concentrations of the three major greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide can be expected to increase in this century. If
emissions were to cease, anthropogenic CO2 would be removed from the
atmosphere by a series of processes operating at different timescales (18).
Over timescales of decades, both the land and upper ocean are important
sinks. Over centuries to millennia, deep oceanic processes become dominant
and are controlled by relatively well-understood physics and chemistry that
provide broad consistency across models (see, for example, Fig. S2 showing
how the removal of a pulse of carbon compares across a range of models).
About 20% of the emitted anthropogenic carbon remains in the atmosphere
for many thousands of years (with a range across models including the Bern
2.5CC model being about 19 4% at year 1000 after a pulse emission; see ref.
19), until much slower weathering processes affect the carbonate balance in
the ocean (e.g., ref. 18). Models with stronger carbon/climate feedbacks than
the one considered here could display larger and more persistent warmings
due to both CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases, through reduced land and
ocean uptake of carbon in a warmer world. Here our focus is not on the
strength of carbon/climate feedbacks that can lead to differences in the
carbon concentration decay, but rather on the factors that control the climate
response to a given decay. The removal processes of other anthropogenic
gases including methane and nitrous oxide are much more simply described
by exponential decay constants of about 10 and 114 y, respectively (1), due
mainly to known chemical reactions in the atmosphere. In this illustrative
study, we do not include the feedback of changes in methane upon its own
lifetime (20). We also do not account for potential interactions between CO2
and other gases, such as the production of carbon dioxide from methane
oxidation (21), or changes to the carbon cycle through, e.g., methane/ozone
chemistry (22). Fig. 1 shows the computed future global warming
contributions for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide for a midrange
scenario (23) of projected future anthropogenic emissions of these gases to
2050. Radiative forcings for all three of these gases, and their spectral
overlaps, are represented in this work using the expressions assessed in ref.
24. In 2050, the anthropogenic emissions are stopped entirely for illustration
purposes. The figure shows nearly irreversible warming for at least 1,000 y
due to the imposed carbon dioxide increases, as in previous work. All

published studies to date, which use multiple EMICs and one AOGCM, show
largely irreversible warming due to future carbon dioxide increases (to within
about 0.5 C) on a timescale of at least 1,000 y (35, 25, 26). Fig. 1 shows
that the calculated future warmings due to anthropogenic CH4 and N2O also
persist notably longer than the lifetimes of these gases. The figure illustrates
that emissions of key non-CO2 greenhouse gases such as CH4 or N2O could
lead to warming that both temporarily exceeds a given stabilization target
(e.g., 2 C as proposed by the G8 group of nations and in the Copenhagen
goals) and remains present longer than the gas lifetimes even if emissions
were to cease. A number of recent studies have underscored the important
point that reductions of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions are an approach
that can indeed reverse some past climate changes (e.g., ref. 27).
Understanding how quickly such reversal could happen and why is an
important policy and science question. Fig. 1 implies that the use of policy
measures to reduce emissions of short-lived gases will be less effective as a
rapid climate mitigation strategy than would be thought if based only upon
the gas lifetime. Fig. 2 illustrates the factors influencing the warming
contributions of each gas for the test case in Fig. 1 in more detail, by showing
normalized values (relative to one at their peaks) of the warming along with
the radiative forcings and concentrations of CO2 , N2O, and CH4 . For
example, about two-thirds of the calculated warming due to N2O is still
present 114 y (one atmospheric lifetime) after emissions are halted, despite
the fact that its excess concentration and associated radiative forcing at that
time has dropped to about one-third of the peak value.
Policy action cant solve- claims that warming is

reversible neglect CO2 longevity
Solomon 08 Susan Solomon, Chemical Sciences Division, Earth System
Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions, Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Dec 16,
2008, Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/6/1704.long, Accessed
on: 7/17/2014, IJ)
It is sometimes imagined that slow processes such as climate changes pose

small risks, on the basis of the assumption that a choice can always be made
to quickly reduce emissions and thereby reverse any harm within a few years
or decades. We have shown that this assumption is incorrect for carbon
dioxide emissions, because of the longevity of the atmospheric
CO2 perturbation and ocean warming. Irreversible climate changes due to
carbon dioxide emissions have already taken place, and future carbon dioxide
emissions would imply further irreversible effects on the planet, with
attendant long legacies for choices made by contemporary society. Discount
rates used in some estimates of economic trade-offs assume that more
efficient climate mitigation can occur in a future richer world, but neglect the
irreversibility shown here. Similarly, understanding of irreversibility reveals
limitations in trading of greenhouse gases on the basis of 100-year estimated
climate changes (global warming potentials, GWPs), because this metric
neglects carbon dioxide's unique long-term effects. In this paper we have
quantified how societal decisions regarding carbon dioxide concentrations
that have already occurred or could occur in the coming century imply
irreversible dangers relating to climate change for some illustrative
populations and regions. These and other dangers pose substantial
challenges to humanity and nature, with a magnitude that is directly linked to
the peak level of carbon dioxide reached.
2NC No Transition
Cant solve warming may even cause more greenhouse
gas emissions than fossil fuels
Rampton and Zabarenko 12 environmental correspondents for
Reuters (Roberta and Deborah, Algae biofuel not sustainable now-U.S.
research council, Reuters, 10-24-12,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-usa-biofuels-algaeidUSBRE89N1Q820121024)//KG
It said a main reason to use alternative fuels for
transportation is to cut climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions created
by burning fossil fuel. But estimates of greenhouse emissions from algal
biofuels cover a wide range, with some suggesting that over their life cycle ,
the fuels release more climate-warming gas than petroleum , it said. The
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
product now made in small quantities by Sapphire uses algae, sunlight and carbon dioxide as feedstocks to
make fuel that is not dependent on food crops or farmland. The company calls it "green crude." Tim Zenk,
a Sapphire vice president, said the company has worked for five years on the sustainability issues
examined in the report. "The NRC has acknowledged something that the industry has known about in its
infancy and began to address immediately," he said. He said Sapphire recycles water and uses land that is
not suitable for agriculture at its New Mexico site, where it hopes to make 100 barrels of algal biofuel a day
by 2014. The U.S. Navy used algal biofuel along with fuel made from cooking oil waste as part of its "Green
Fleet" military exercises demonstration this summer, drawing fire from Republican lawmakers for its nearly
The council study also said it was unclear whether producing

that much biofuel from algae would actually lead to reduced greenhouse gas
emissions. The report shows the strategy is too risky, said Friends of
the Earth, an environmental group. "Algae production poses a doubleedged threat to our water resources, already strained by the drought ," Michal
$27 per gallon cost.
Rosenoer, a biofuels campaigner with the group, said in a statement.
Algae biofuels rely on fossil fuels emits more CO2 than it

captures
Silverstein 12 (Ken Silverstein, editor-in-chief of Breakbulk Media, which
examines the trade and transportation angles, Journal of Commerce Group,
Axio Data Group, Will Algae Biofuels Hit the Highway?, Forbes, May 20,
2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2012/05/20/will-algaebiofuels-hit-the-highway/)//CS
An Arizona-based algae technology company says its on to something big: harnessing the growth of algae
at a commercial scale so that it can ultimately be used as a transportation fuel. Heliae broke ground
Friday on its new plant. Now, all it needs is an abundance of sunshine, water and carbon dioxide. But
while the ingredients to make algae may be simple, it is still an open

question as to whether current pilot facilities can attract private
investors that will enable the industry to gear up. Beyond the financial
concerns, environmental worries persist. It can involve taking carbon emissions from
power plants to grow the algae before converting it to something that would
run cars, trucks and airplanes. In a phone interview, Heliaes Chief Executive Dan Simon
explained to this writer that the companys ultimate goal is to produce transportation fuels. To get to that
point, though, it will focus on near-term aims that are more attainable: chemicals, cosmetics and healthy
foods. As it develops, the enterprise will then expand overseas and into the Asia Pacific region. We will
never take our eyes off the transportation fuels, says Simon. But there are stepping stones to get us
Production costs have to come down. Right now, the economics

dont work. It will be 5 to 10 years before all of this will affect the price at the
pump. Simon continues, saying that good science takes time and that by first picking the low
there.
hanging fruit the company will drive revenues and efficiencies, and bring down production costs. Among
the key goals the company is working towards: Ensuring that the process has a positive energy impact,
meaning that it cant take more energy to grow the algae than the amount of carbon dioxide that the algae
Critics maintain that the recycling of carbon lends credence

to the burning of fossil fuels and in the end, more carbon is emitted
than is captured. The journal of Environmental Science and Technology, furthermore, looked two
years ago at the life cycle of algae compared to other bio-fuels such as corn and switch-grass. It
concluded that using conventional crops to create fuels will result in fewer
greenhouse gas emissions and less water consumption than if algae is used
to do the same thing. The study also says that most of the carbon that is getting captured is
coming from places other than power plants and oil refineries. Thats because there is not yet an
effective way to bottle such releases from industrial sources On paper, algae
would absorb.
could displace worldwide petroleum use altogether, however, the industry has yet to produce a drop of oil
for commercial production, says Pike Research president Clint Wheelock. Although the algae-based
widespread scale-up will

be hampered by a number of difficult challenges including access to
nutrients, water, and private capital. What would help the sector get there faster? Algae
biofuels market will grow rapidly once key cost hurdles are overcome,
bio-fuels producers are asking U.S. lawmakers to treat their product the same way as they do other
advanced bio-fuels such as cellulosic ethanol. That means including algae in the tax incentives given to
advanced bio-fuels and in the Renewable Fuels Standard that sets alternative fuel targets. When the code
Legislation has
just been introduced in the U.S. House to achieve just that. With such tax
incentives, the industry says that production costs would come down . Those
costs are now considered to be at least double that of petroleumbased fuels, although such figures can vary with location, technology and whether the algae plant
was written, algae was a nascent concept that never wound up on anyones radar.
can be located near existing power plants or oil refineries so as to capture their carbon emissions.
No transition no price parity with petroleum

Hannon 11 (Michael Hannon, San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology, University of California
San Diego, Division of Biology, Biofuels from algae: challenges and potential, US National Library of
Medicine National Institutes of Health, August 8, 2011,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3152439/)//CS
With current estimates of algal-based biofuels ranging from US$3002600 per

barrel based on current technology, technical hurdles need to be overcome to
improve this price. Some of these improvements can come from improving growth strategies and
engineering, as discussed previously, but improvements can also come from optimizing the use of the
the final price of a barrel of algae oil when production

goes to large scale is difficult to extrapolate from the present small
production facilities, system improvements will certainly bring costs down. Figure 5 illustrates our
entire organism. Although
estimates of the relative impacts of technological improvements on the economic viability of algae
Most analysts do not predict full parity with petroleum in the

near future. More likely, the initial selling point of algal fuels will be
approximately twofold higher than petroleum, but the environmental costs will be
biofuels.
substantially lower than our current strategy of depending on fossil fuels.
2NC No Extinction
None of their studies have predictive validity reject try
or die framing.
Sadar 7/7 (Anthony J., Prof @ Geneva College specializing in Earth and
Environmental Science, Statistics, Air Pollution Meteorology and Engineering,
Why the former Ice Age became global warming, then climate change,
Washington Examiner 7/7/14, http://washingtonexaminer.com/why-thecoming-ice-age-became-global-warming-then-climatechange/article/2550565)//mm
Today, it is fashionable to expect disaster from too much warmth. So the
smart money is on promoting dire predictions and consequences of rising
thermometers, even in the face of no global warming for more than 15 years.
From my own 35 years of experience in the atmospheric science profession
as an air-pollution meteorologist, air quality program administrator and
science educator, I can attest the fact that long-range, global climatechange outlooks are nothing but insular professional opinion . Such
opinion is not worthy of the investment of billions of dollars to avoid
the supposed catastrophic consequences of abundant, inexpensive fossil
fuels and, subsequently, to impoverish U.S. citizens with skyrocket energy
costs. I have conducted or overseen a hundred air-quality studies, many
using sophisticated atmospheric modeling. Such modeling comparable to
or even involving the same models as those used in climate modeling
produced results for relatively short-term, local areas that, although helpful to
understanding air quality impact issues, were far from being able to bet
billions of taxpayer dollars on. Yet similar climate models that imagine
conditions for the entire globe for decades into the future are used to do just
that bet billions of taxpayer dollars. Bottom line, nobody can detail with
any billion-dollar-spending degree of confidence what the global climate will
be like decades from now. But, its easy to predict that, given enough
monetary incentive and the chance to be at the pinnacle of popularity, some
climate prognosticators and certainly every capitalizing politician will
continue to proffer convincing climate claims to an unwary public.
No impact to warming history and scientific study prove

Jaworowski, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Central Laboratory
for Radiological Protection in Warsaw and former chair of the United Nations
Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 08 (Professor
Zbigniew, Fear
Propaganda,http://www.ourcivilisation.com/aginatur/cycles/chap3.htm, js)
Doomsayers preaching the horrors of warming are not troubled by
the fact that in the Middle Ages, when for a few hundred years it was warmer
than it is now, neither the Maldive atolls nor the Pacific archipelagos
were flooded. Global oceanic levels have been rising for some hundreds or
thousands of years (the causes of this phenomenon are not clear). In the last 100 years, this
increase amounted to 10 cm to 20 cm, (24) but it does not seem to be accelerated
by the 20th Century warming. It turns out that in warmer climates, there is
more water that evaporates from the ocean (and subsequently falls as snow on the
Greenland and Antarctic ice caps) than there is water that flows to the seas from
melting glaciers. (17) Since the 1970s, the glaciers of the Arctic, Greenland, and the
Antarctic have ceased to retreat, and have started to grow. On January 18,
2002, the journal Science published the results of satellite-borne radar and ice core studies performed by
scientists from CalTech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California at Santa Cruz. These
results indicate that the Antarctic ice flow has been slowed, and sometimes even stopped, and that this
has resulted in the thickening of the continental glacier at a rate of 26.8 billion tons a year. (25) In 1999,
Polish Academy of Sciences
paper was prepared as a source material for a report titled
paper implied
that the increase of atmospheric precipitation by 23% in Poland, which
was presumed to be caused by global warming, would be
detrimental. (Imagine stating this in a country where 38% of the area suffers from permanent
"Forecast of the Defense Conditions for the Republic of Poland in 2001-2020." The
surface water deficit!) The same paper also deemed an extension of the vegetation period by 60 to 120
Truly, a possibility of doubling the crop rotation, or even prolonging

by four months the harvest of radishes, makes for a horrific vision in
the minds of the authors of this paper. Newspapers continuously write
about the increasing frequency and power of the storms . The facts,
however, speak otherwise. I cite here only some few data from Poland, but there are plenty of
data from all over the world. In Cracow, in 1896-1995, the number of storms with hail
and precipitation exceeding 20 millimeters has decreased continuously, and after
1930, the number of all storms decreased. (26) In 1813 to 1994, the frequency and magnitude
days as a disaster.
of floods of Vistula River in Cracow not only did not increase but, since 1940, have significantly decreased.
(27) Also, measurements in the Kolobrzeg Baltic Sea harbor indicate that the number of gales has not
increased between 1901
Food Security
1NC Frontline
Food security conflicts inevitable no explanation of how
algae biofuels reverse food insecurity their scenario
becomes a solvency deficit
US alone cant solve multilateral institutions key and
already working in the status quo
Jackson and Kask 12 (Lee Ann Jackson and Ulla Kask, WTO Secretariat,
Food Security and Multilateralism, Research and Analysis, World Trade
Organization, 2012,
http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/public_forum12_e/art_pf12_e/art4.htm)//
CS
During recent years, in the face of increasing and volatile food prices, the
international community has come together in a variety of configurations to
consider policies that will ensure food security. Typically the discussions
acknowledge that solutions to food security must include both policies that
target the short-term food security for vulnerable populations and policies
that focus on medium and long-term strategies for ensuring adequate
investment in agriculture, including enhancing linkages to markets for rural poor and removing
unnecessary market distortions. Within the constellation of policies that are necessary to address food
the multilateral trading system can play a significant role . First, at

a basic level, trade provides a bridge for the physical movement of food between
food deficit and food surplus areas. Second, trade has the potential to
stabilize food prices. In the short term, undistorted trade enhances food security
by making food imports more affordable and by facilitating exports. In the
long run, if producers are adequately linked to markets these price signals
generate a favourable supply responses and stimulate efficient food
production around the world. Third, trade rules contribute to enhanced
transparency and predictability which benefit both importers and exporters of
agricultural products. While most individual countries would recognize that robust, undistorted
security,
international markets can be part of the global food security solution, in the face of food crisis countries
may have decreased confidence in the multilateral trading system. Recently, for example, in the context of
rising prices, many countries imposed export barriers with a view to ensuring that domestic markets had
adequate supply to satisfy domestic consumer demand. These types of policies have negative food
security impacts both in the short and long run. In the short term, these policies create more volatility in
international markets, particularly for products that are not traded extensively on the international markets
and reduce availability of food for importing countries. In the long run, restricting exports distorts prices,
thus creating disincentives to efficient producers. The dilemma in this case is that individual country-level
decisions can negatively impact global food security outcomes while solutions to food security will require
several multilateral
initiatives to coordinate policy actions have been launched . In 2008
the UN Secretary General created the High Level Task Force on the Global
Food Security Crisis to ensure that the UN system, international financial
institutions and the WTO were ready to provide robust and consistent support
to countries struggling to cope with food insecurity. In 2009, the G-8, in a joint statement,
committed to the LAquila Food Security Initiative, which recognizes that
collective decision-making. The good news is that in response to food crisis,
"Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture must remain a priority

issue on the political agenda, to be addressed through a cross-cutting and
inclusive approach, involving all relevant stakeholders, at global, regional and
national level." At the World Summit on Food Security in 2009 world leaders
"agreed to work to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture and
promote new investment in the sector, to improve governance of global food issues in
partnership with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector,
and to proactively face the challenges of climate change to food security ." More
recently, in 2011 the G20 Summit led to important steps to reduce price
volatility, including the creation of the Excessive Food Price Variability Early
Warning system and the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS). This
year's summit will continue discussions on this work in order to reach the goals of reduced volatility,
poverty reduction, and global food security.
Food insecurity decreasing long term trend proves

Hoevel 13 (Michael Hoevel, former deputy director of Agriculture for
Impact at Imperial College London, Food security: facts and figures,
SciDevNet, November 21, 2013, http://www.scidev.net/global/foodsecurity/feature/food-security-facts-and-figures.html)//CS
What is food security? Food security actually describes a number of related yet distinct phenomena, for
instance, the availability of food but also the ability to access and use it reliably. The UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food security as a state whereby all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life. [2] Food insecurity, the flip side of food security, is broader in
scope than hunger (or undernourishment) because it also includes malnutrition not having enough
micronutrients (or excessive or imbalanced amounts) in your diet. Food security is also interlinked with
poverty and health. The World Bank has calculated that agricultural investments have at least twice the
potential to reduce poverty as investments in any other sector. [3] In addition, people with low energy
levels or poor health are often not able to be productive, and those without adequate work are less able to
purchase food. This relationship is often referred to as the food-nutrition-livelihoods nexus. In practice,
Since 1950 the global

population has more than doubled to 7.2 billion people, yet the total
number of hungry or undernourished people has remained largely
the same (see Figure 3). [4] In percentage terms, this represents a monumental
drop in the prevalence of hunger from around one-third to around
one-eighth of the population, driven at least in part by increases in
agricultural productivity and increased trade (which lower food prices).
measuring food security and trends over time can be challenging.
No conflict - countries will cooperate over food

Burger et al. 10 -Development Economics, Corresponding author, Wageningen University (Kees,
Governance of the world food system and crisis prevention
http://www.stuurgroepta.nl/rapporten/Foodshock-web.pdf ) //SQR
Both European water and agricultural policies are based on the belief that there will always be cheap food
aplenty on the world market. A recent British report 23 reflects this optimism. Although production is now
more prone to world market price shocks, their effects on farm incomes are softened by extensive income
supports (van Eickhout et al. 2007). Earlier, in a 2003 report, a European group of agricultural economists
wrote:
Food security is no longer a prime objective of European food and
agricultural policy. There is no credible threat to the availability of the basic

ingredients of human nutrition from domestic and foreign sources . If there is a
food security threat it is the possible disruption of supplies by natural disasters or
catastrophic terrorist action. The main response necessary for such possibilities is the
appropriate contingency planning and co-ordination between the Commission and
Member States (Anania et al. 2003). Europe, it appears, feels rather sure of itself, and does
not worry about a potential food crisis. We are also not aware of any special measures on
standby. Nevertheless a fledgling European internal security has been called into being that can be
deployed should (food) crises strike. The Maastricht Treaty (1992) created a quasi-decision-making
platform to respond to transboundary threats. Since 9/11 the definition of what constitutes a threat has
been broadened and the protection capacity reinforced. In the Solidarity Declaration of 2003 member
states promised to stand by each other in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or human-made
Experimental forms of cooperation are

tried that leave member-state sovereignty intact, such as pooling of
resources. The EU co-operates in the area of health and food safety but its mechanisms remain
calamity (the European Security Strategy of 2003).
decentrslised by dint of the principle of subsidiarity. The silo mentality between the European directorates
is also unhelpful, leading to Babylonian confusion. Thus, in the context of forest fires and floods the
Environment DG refers to civil protection. The European Security and Defence Policy( ESDP) of 2006,
which is hoped to build a bridge between internal and external security policy, on the other hand refers to
crisis management, while the security concept mainly pertains to pandemics (Rhinard et al. 2008: 512,
Boin et al. 2008: 406).
Algae biofuels are unsustainable large amounts of

energy consumption, little output
Rampton and Zabarenko 12 (ROBERTA RAMPTON AND DEBORAH
ZABARENKO, October 24, 2012, Algae biofuel not sustainable now-U.S.
research council, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-usabiofuels-algae-idUSBRE89N1Q820121024)//CS
Biofuels made from algae, promoted by President Barack Obama as a possible way to help
wean Americans off foreign oil, cannot be made now on a large scale without
using unsustainable amounts of energy, water and fertilizer, the U.S.
National Research Council reported on Wednesday. "Faced with today's
technology, to scale up any more is going to put really big demands on ... not
only energy input, but water, land and the nutrients you need, like carbon
dioxide, nitrate and phosphate," said Jennie Hunter-Cevera, a microbial physiologist who
headed the committee that wrote the report. Hunter-Cevera stressed that this is not a definitive rejection
they may not be ready to supply even 5 percent,

or approximately 10.3 billion gallons (39 billion liters), of U.S. transportation
fuel needs. "Algal biofuels is still a teenager that needs to be developed and nurtured," she said by
telephone. The National Research Council is part of the National Academies, a
group of private nonprofit institutions that advise government on science,
technology and health policy. Its sustainability assessment was requested by the Department of
of algal biofuels, but a recognition that
Energy, which has invested heavily in projects to develop the alternative fuel. The National Research
Council report shows that the government should continue research on algal biofuel as well as other
technologies that reduce oil use, an Energy Department spokeswoman said. Tim Zenk, a Sapphire vice
president, said the company has worked for five years on the sustainability issues examined in the report.
"The NRC has acknowledged something that the industry has known about in its infancy and began to
address immediately," he said. He said Sapphire recycles water and uses land that is not suitable for
agriculture at its New Mexico site, where it hopes to make 100 barrels of algal biofuel a day by 2014. The
it was unclear whether producing that much biofuel from

algae would actually lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The report shows
council study also said
the strategy is too risky, said Friends of the Earth, an environmental group. "Algae production poses a
double-edged threat to our water resources, already strained by the drought," Michal Rosenoer, a biofuels
campaigner with the group, said in a statement. Industry group Algal Biomass Organization focused on the
positives in its statement.
2NC Multilat Solves

US assistance isnt enough multilateral institutions are
key to solve for food insecurity
Office of Global Food Security 13 (Office of Global Food Security,
US Department of State, Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative
Consultation Document, 2013,
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/130164.pdf)//CS
U.S. assistance cannot reach every country that needs assistance;
multilateral institutions provide an opportunity to partner with the global
community to make a global impact. Multilateral institutions can efficiently
deliver global resources for food security, complement bilateral activities, and
strengthen in-country donor coordination processes. Multilateral development
banks and funds, such as the World Bank, the regional development banks,
and the International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD) also have
important comparative advantages that complement bilateral programs. For
example, they can undertake large-scale transportation projects or support
intra-regional transportation corridors that boost trade flows and reduce the
costs and time to ship inputs and crops. In addition, multilateral institutions
such as the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food
Program (WFP) have significant technical experience that can be leveraged to
help implement a multi-stakeholder strategy. Multilateral institutions, such as
the UN High Level Task Force, will also play an important global coordination
role. One important financing mechanism is a flexible multi-donor trust fund
at the World Bank proposed at the 2009 Pittsburgh G-20 Summit that will
build on the success of the World Bank's Global Food Crisis Response Program
(GFRP). This mechanism will finance medium- and long- term investments in
foundational areas such as regional infrastructure, market development,
input systems development, and policy frameworks. This fund will leverage
the World Bank's existing resources, agriculture expertise, experience
working across sectors and ministries, and near universal presence in lowincome countries to fill critical gaps that donors and country partners often
find difficult to implement in a timely or efficient manner on their own. This
mechanism will finance country proposals through a number of potential
implementing agencies such as IFAD, the regional multilateral development
banks, and the World Bank. This mechanism will also finance private sector
activities to help catalyze private investment along the agriculture valuechain.
World Bank solves food crises

The World Bank 12 [Food Price Volatility a Growing Concern, World
Bank Stands Ready to Respond, July 30, 2012,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/07/30/food-price-volatility-growingconcern-world-bank-stands-ready-respond]
Should the current situation escalate, the World Bank Group stands ready to
assist client countries through measures such as increased agriculture and
agriculture-related investment, policy advice, fast-track financing, the multidonor Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, and risk management
products. We are also coordinating with UN agencies through the High-Level Task Force
on the Global Food Security Crisis and with non-governmental organizations, as well as
supporting the Partnership for Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to improve food
market transparency and to help governments make informed responses to
global food price spikes.
2NC Insecurity Low

Food insecurity decreasing long term trends prove
World Vision International 12 (World Vision International, October 9, 2012,
Globally almost 870 million chronically undernourished - new hunger report, http://www.wvi.org/foodassistance/article/state-food-insecurity)//CS
The global number of hungry people declined by 132 million between

1990-92 and 2010-12, or from 18.6 percent to 12.5 percent of the world's
population, and from 23.2 percent to 14.9 percent in developing countries putting the MDG target within reach if adequate, appropriate actions are taken. The number of
hungry declined more sharply between 1990 and 2007 than previously
believed. Since 2007-2008, however, global progress in reducing hunger has slowed and leveled off
The new estimates suggest that the increase in hunger during 20072010 was less severe than previously thought. The 2008-2009
economic crisis did not cause an immediate sharp economic slowdown in
many developing countries as was feared could happen; the transmission of
international food prices to domestic markets was less pronounced than was
assumed at the time while many governments succeeded in cushioning the
shocks and protecting the most vulnerable from the effects of the price spike.
The numbers of hunger released today are part of a revised series that go
back to 1990. It uses updated information on population, food supply, food
losses, dietary energy requirements and other factors . They also better estimate the
distribution of food (as measured in terms of dietary energy supply) within countries. SOFI 2012 notes that
the methodology does not capture the short-term effects of food price surges and other economic shocks.
FAO is also working to develop a wider set of indicators to better capture dietary quality and other
dimensions of food security. MDG target within reach The report suggests that if appropriate actions are
taken to reverse the slowdown in 2007-08 and to feed the hungry, achieving the Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) of reducing by half the share of hungry people in the developing world by 2015 is still within
reach. "If the average annual hunger reduction of the past 20 years continues through to 2015, the
percentage of undernourishment in the developing countries would reach 12.5 percent - still above the
MDG target of 11.6 percent, but much closer to it than previously estimated," the report says. Asia leads in
Among the regions, undernourishment in the

past two decades decreased nearly 30 percent in Asia and the Pacific,
from 739 million to 563 million, largely due to socio-economic progress in
many countries in the region. Despite population growth, the prevalence of
undernourishment in the region decreased from 23.7 percent to 13.9 percent.
Latin America and the Caribbean also made progress, falling from 65 million
hungry in 1990-1992 to 49 million in 2010-2012, while the prevalence of
undernourishment dipped from 14.6 percent to 8.3 percent. But the rate of
progress has slowed recently.
number of hungry; hunger rises in Africa
2NC No Conflict
Wont go to war over food
Chang 2/21/11
Graduated Cornell Law School (Gordon, Global Food Wars

http://blogs.forbes.com/gordonchang/2011/02/21/global-food-wars/ )//SQR
In any event, food-price increases have apparently been factors in the unrest now sweeping North Africa
and the Middle East. The poor spend up to half their disposable income on edibles, making rapid food
inflation a cause of concern for dictators, strongmen, and assorted autocrats everywhere. So even if
humankind does not go to war over bad harvests , Paskal may be right when she
contends that climate change may end up altering the global map. This is not the first time in
human history that food shortages looked like they would be the motor of
violent geopolitical change. Yet amazing agronomic advances, especially
Norman Borlaugs Green Revolution in the middle of the 20th century, have
consistently proved the pessimists wrong. In these days when capitalism is
being blamed for most everything, its important to remember the power of
human innovation in free societiesand the efficiency of free markets.
2NC Unsustainable
Algae biofuels cant solve - expensive and unsustainable
Kanellos 9 (Michael Kanellos, Vice President and Technology Analyst at
GreenTech Media, February 3, 2009, Algae Biodiesel: It's $33 a Gallon,
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/algae-biodiesel-its-33-a-gallon5652)//CS
You can grow algae with carbon dioxide and sunlight, but that doesn't mean it's free. Although many
believe that algae will become one of the chief feedstocks for diesel and even hydrocarbon-like fuels,
growing large amounts of algae and then converting the single-celled creatures remains expensive, said
Algae biofuel
startup Solix, for instance, can produce biofuel from algae right now, but it costs about $32.81 a
gallon, said Bryan Wilson, a co-founder of the company and a professor at Colorado State University. The
production cost is high because of the energy required to circulate gases and
other materials inside the photo bioreactors where the algae grow. It also
takes energy to dry out the biomass, and Solix uses far less water than other companies (see
experts at the National Biodiesel Conference taking place in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Cutting the Cost of Making Algae by 90%). By exploiting waste heat at adjacent utilities (one of our favorite
forms of energy around here), the price can probably be brought down to $5.50 a gallon (see Will Waste
Heat Be Bigger Than Solar?). By selling the proteins and other byproducts from the algae for pet food, the
price can be brought to $3.50 a gallon in the near term. But
that's still the equivalent of $150
a barrel of oil. "We we're excited in July [when oil was approaching that level]," he joked.
"But we knew it wasn't sustainable." It's only in phase II of Solix's business plan that it will be
able to drop production costs to $3.30 to $1.57 a gallon, or around $60 to $80 a barrel. Solix has set a goal
of cutting the cost of making algae by 90 percent. Is algae a good feedstock? Yes, he insisted. Ultimately,
algae could yield 5,000 to 10,000 gallons an acre, far higher than other feedstocks. Soy is only good for
around 40 to 50 gallons an acre. Touted plants like jatropha might only produce 175 gallons an acre, he
Wild algae grows fast, but it doesn't yield

tremendous amounts of oil naturally two thirds or more of the body weight
of wild algae will be proteins and carbohydrates instead of oil. Genetically
modified algae can boost the oil content, but that slows the growth process.
Closed bioreactors i.e., sealed plastic bags placed in the sun -- cost more than open
ponds, but it's tough to keep invasive species from taking over open ponds
and out-competing algae optimized to produce oil . "There's a dance between the growth
said. But algae comes with trade-offs.
rate and lipid content," Wilson said. Much of the cost reduction for Solix will be accomplished through
extraction techniques the company hasn't discussed yet. And algae companies will have to harvest
everything their microorganisms produce. "We don't have the solutions that are publicly discussed that
give us the costs that we need," he said, adding, "The value of the co-products have to be captured and
the value of the co-products could exceed the value of the oil." Some companies, like Solazyme, are
exploiting genetic science and fermenting techniques to accomplish the task. In fermentation, specific
species of algae are locked into brewing kettles with sugars derived from old plant matter. When the time
is right, Solazyme takes out the microbes and squeezes out the oil. It's cheaper to get large volumes of
feedstock oil through fermentation than growing algae in ponds or bioreactors, said CEO Jonathan Wolfson.
Genetically modifying the algae can boost the lipid, or oil, content to 70 percent of the organism's weight.
In a sense, Solazyme practices indirect photosynthesis: the algae doesn't grow by having sunlight shone
upon it but by eating sugars that were grown in the sun. "Algae is by far the best organism on the planet
for converting fixed carbon into oil," he said. "But economically, others are more efficient at taking sunlight
and carbon dioxide and turning it into oil." Solazyme says it will be capable of producing competitively
priced fuel from algae in 24 to 36 months. Solazyme actually uses photosynthesis for growing some algae,
but only higher value oils for the cosmetic or other industries. Another, Phycal, is trying to harvest oil from
algae without killing the algae. Instead, Phycal bathes the algae in solvents which can suck out the oil.
Some strains of algae can go through the process four times or more. "Think of it as milking algae rather
than sending it to the slaughterhouse," said senior scientist Brad Postier. "By not killing the cells, we don't
have to grow the biomass again."
Economy
1NC Frontline
Price rise resilient- Libyan delays, China growth
Gloystein 7/16 (Henning, community editor for Reuters European power, coal, and gas, Deputy
Director for Markets and Strategy at the London-based environmental market consultancy IDEAcarbon, Oil
rises on delayed Libyan port restarts, improved China growth)
September crude prices gained a dollar to over

$100.50 a barrel on Wednesday as data from China showed its economy grew
faster than expected and a Libyan official said two main eastern oil ports would
unlikely export before August. China's improving outlook and the delayed Libyan port
restart ended oil's longest losing streak since 2010 which had pulled Brent down
LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S.
more than 8 percent since mid-June. U.S. September crude gained a dollar to a high of $100.53 a barrel.
The contract fell as low as $98.68 in the previous session, its lowest since May. The North Sea September
benchmark was at $107.41 by 1135 GMT, after hitting an intraday low of $105.59 on Tuesday, the weakest
Prices were pushed up by

a report that Libya's two main eastern oil ports Es Sider and Ras
Lanuf are unlikely to restart crude exports before August, traders said.
"They haven't actually exported a single barrel from these ports yet, and as far
as I know there are no sign of any export ," said Michael Barry, director at FGE in London. Oil
markets were already gaining prior to the Libyan port delay after China
published better than expected economic data. "Hopes for a rebound in risk appetite now
price since early May. The August contract expires on Wednesday.
lie with China after it reported an uptick in the pace of economic growth," oil brokerage PVM said.
China's economy grew by 7.5 percent between April and June from a year ago, slightly above
expectations and up from 7.4 percent in the first quarter, government data showed on Wednesday.
China's implied oil demand rose 2.6 percent compared with a year ago to 10.2 million
barrels per day (bpd) in June, the highest since January 2013, according to Reuters calculations
based on preliminary government data. U.S. CRUDE STOCKS DOWN I n the United States, prices
also rose on the expectation of strong industrial production and the publication of
official oil inventory figures, to be released later on Wednesday. Crude oil inventories fell 4.8
million barrels in the week ended July 11, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute
showed on Tuesday.. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories were forecast to have fallen 2.1 million barrels
last week, as refiners increased output, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.
Empirics prove no impact to oil shocks

Kahn, 11 Journalist, formerly a Pew International Journalism Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies (Jeremy, Crude Reality, 2/13/11,
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/02/13/crude_reality/?page=full)
Gholz, at the
University of Texas, and Daryl Press, at Dartmouth College. To find out what
actually happens when the worlds petroleum supply is interrupted, the duo analyzed every
major oil disruption since 1973. The results, published in a recent issue of the journal
Strategic Studies, showed that in almost all cases, the ensuing rise in prices,
while sometimes steep, was short-lived and had little lasting
economic impact. When there have been prolonged price rises, they found the cause to
be panic on the part of oil purchasers rather than a supply shortage.
When oil runs short, in other words, the market is usually adept at filling
the gap. One striking example was the height of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. If anything was likely
Among those asking this tough question are two young professors, Eugene
to produce an oil shock, it was this: two major Persian Gulf producers directly targeting each others oil
facilities. And indeed, prices surged 25 percent in the first months of the conflict. But within 18 months of
the wars start they had fallen back to their prewar levels, and they stayed there even though the fighting
during the 1984 Tanker War phase of that

when Iraq tried to sink oil tankers carrying Iranian crude and Iran retaliated
by targeting ships carrying oil from Iraq and its Persian Gulf allies the price of oil continued
to drop steadily. Gholz and Press found just one case after 1973 in which the market mechanisms
continued to rage for six more years. Surprisingly,
conflict
failed: the 1979-1980 Iranian oil strike which followed the overthrow of the Shah, during which Saudi
Arabia, perhaps hoping to appease Islamists within the country, also led OPEC to cut production,
exacerbating the supply shortage. In their paper, Gholz and Press ultimately conclude that the
markets adaptive mechanisms function independently of the US military presence in the

Persian Gulf, and that they largely protect the American economy from being
damaged by oil shocks. To the extent that the United States faces a national security
challenge related to Persian Gulf oil, it is not how to protect the oil we need but how to assure consumers
that there is nothing to fear, the two write. That is a thorny policy problem, but it does not require large
military deployments and costly military operations. Theres no denying the importance of Middle
Eastern oil to the US economy. Although only 15 percent of imported US oil comes directly from the Persian
Gulf, the region is responsible for nearly a third of the worlds production and the majority of its known
Many key producing countries have

spare capacity, so if oil is cut off from one country, others tend to
increase their output rapidly to compensate. Today, regions outside the
Middle East, such as the west coast of Africa, make up an increasingly
important share of worldwide production. Private companies also hold large
reserves. But the oil market is also elastic:
stockpiles of oil to smooth over shortages amounting to a few billion barrels in the United States alone
as does the US government, with 700 million barrels in its strategic petroleum reserve. And the market
can largely work around shipping disruptions by using alternative routes; though they are more expensive,
transportation costs account for only tiny fraction of the price of oil. Compared
to the 1970s,
the structure of the US economy offers better insulation from oil
price shocks. Today, the country uses half as much energy per dollar of
gross domestic product as it did in 1973, according to data from the US Energy
Information Administration. Remarkably, the economy consumed less total energy in 2009
too,
than in 1997, even though its GDP rose and the population grew. When it comes time to fill up at the
pump, the average US consumer today spends less than 4 percent of his or her disposable income on
Oil, though crucial, is simply a smaller

part of the economy than it once was. There is no denying that the 1973 oil shock was bad
gasoline, compared with more than 6 percent in 1980.
the stock market crashed in response to the sudden spike in oil prices, inflation jumped, and
unemployment hit levels not seen since the Great Depression. The 1979 oil shock also had deep and
Economists now argue, however, that the economic

damage was more directly attributable to bad government policy
than to the actual supply shortage. Among those who have studied
past oil shocks is Ben Bernanke, the current chairman of the Federal Reserve. In 1997,
Bernanke analyzed the effects of a sharp rise in fuel prices during
three different oil shocks 1973-75, 1980-82, and 1990-91. He concluded that the
major economic damage was caused not by the oil price increases
but by the Federal Reserve overreacting and sharply increasing
interest rates to head off what it wrongly feared would be a wave of inflation. Today, his view is
accepted by most mainstream economists. Gholz and Press are hardly the only
researchers who have concluded that we are far too worried about
oil shocks. The economy also faced a large increase in prices in the mid2000s, largely as the result of surging demand from emerging markets, with no ill effects. If you
lasting economic effects.
take any economics textbook written before 2000, it would talk about what a calamitous effect a doubling
in oil prices would have, said Philip Auerswald, an associate professor at George Mason Universitys
School of Public Policy who has written about oil shocks and their implications for US foreign policy. Well,
we had a price quadrupling from 2003 and 2007 and nothing bad happened.
(The recession of 2008-9 was triggered by factors unrelated to oil prices.) Auerswald also points out that
Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, it did tremendous
damage to offshore oil rigs, refineries, and pipelines, as well as the rail lines and roads that
when
transport petroleum to the rest of the country. The United States gets about 12 percent of its oil from the
Gulf of Mexico region, and, more significantly, 40 percent of its refining capacity is located there. Al Qaeda
times 1,000 could not deliver this sort of blow to the oil industrys physical infrastructure, Auerswald said.
And yet the only impact was about
unusually high prices at the pump for a few weeks.
five days of gas lines in Georgia, and

lack of supply

found that

World economy has decoupled from USChina and other

developing countries driving growth
Kennedy 10 (Simon Kennedy, Bloomberg, Wall Street sees World Economy Decoupling
from US, October 4, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-03/world-economydecoupling-from-u-s-in-slowdown-returns-as-wall-street-view.html)
The world has already become partially decoupled, Joseph Stiglitz said in a Sept. 20
interview. Underpinning their analysis is the view that international reliance on U.S. trade
has diminished and is too small to spread the lingering effects of Americas
housing bust. Providing the U.S. pain doesnt roil financial markets as it did in
the credit crisis, Goldman Sachs expects a weakening dollar, higher bond
yields outside the U.S. and stronger emerging-market equities . So long as it
doesnt turn to flu, the world can withstand a cold from the U.S., Ethan Harris, head of developed-markets
economic research in New York at BofA Merrill Lynch, said in a telephone interview. He predicts the U.S. will
expand 1.8 percent next year, compared with 3.9 percent globally. That may provide comfort for some of
the central bankers and finance ministers from 187 nations flocking to Washington for annual meetings of
IMF chief economist Olivier

last month predicted positive but low growth in advanced
countries, while developing nations expand at a very high rate . He will
the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Oct. 8-10.
Blanchard
release revised forecasts on Oct. 6. Partially Decoupled The world has already become
partially decoupled, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at New Yorks Columbia
University, said in a Sept. 20 interview in Zurich. He will speak at an IMF event this week.
Sixteen months after the worlds largest economy emerged from recession, the U.S.
recovery is losing momentum, with factory orders falling 0.5 percent in August and
unemployment forecast to increase to 9.7 percent in September from the previous months 9.6
percent, according to the median estimate of 78 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Their predictions dont include another contraction, with growth estimated at 2.7 percent this
year and some indicators showing progress. Orders for capital goods rose 5.1 percent in
August and the number of contracts to purchase previously owned homes increased 4.3
percent; both were higher than forecasts. China Manufacturing Accelerates Even so,
emerging markets are showing more strength. Manufacturing in China

accelerated for a second consecutive month in September , and industrial
production in India jumped 13.8 percent in July from a year earlier, more than twice the June
pace. It seems that recent economic data help to confirm the story of
emerging-markets outperformance, said David Lubin, chief economist for

emerging markets at Citigroup Inc. in London. The gap in growth rates
between the developing and advanced worlds is widening , he said. Emerging
economies will account for about 60 percent of global expansion this year and next, up from
about 25 percent a decade ago, according to his estimates. The main reason for the
divergence: Direct transmission from a U.S. slowdown to other economies
through exports is just not large enough to spread a U.S. demand problem
globally, Goldman Sachs economists Dominic Wilson and Stacy Carlson wrote in a Sept. 22
report entitled If the U.S. sneezes...
Economic decline doesnt cause war

Barnett 9 [senior managing director of Enterra Solutions LLC and a contributing editor/online
columnist for Esquire magazine, columnist for World Politics Review, Thomas P.M. The New Rules: Security
Remains Stable Amid Financial Crisis, World Politics Review, 8/252009, http://www.aprodex.com/the-newrules--security-remains-stable-amid-financial-crisis-398-bl.aspx]
When the global financial crisis struck roughly a year ago, the blogosphere was ablaze with all sorts of scary predictions
of, and commentary regarding, ensuing conflict and wars -- a rerun of the Great Depression leading to world war, as it
were. Now, as global economic news brightens and recovery -- surprisingly led by China and emerging markets -- is the
globalization's first truly

worldwide recession has had virtually no impact whatsoever on the international
security landscape. None of the more than three-dozen ongoing conflicts listed by GlobalSecurity.org can be clearly
talk of the day, it's interesting to look back over the past year and realize how
attributed to the global recession. Indeed, the last new entry (civil conflict between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestine)
predates the economic crisis by a year, and three quarters of the chronic struggles began in the last century. Ditto for the
15 low-intensity conflicts listed by Wikipedia (where the latest entry is the Mexican "drug war" begun in 2006). Certainly,
the Russia-Georgia conflict last August was specifically timed, but by most accounts the opening ceremony of the Beijing
Olympics was the most important external trigger (followed by the U.S. presidential campaign) for that sudden spike in an
almost two-decade long struggle between Georgia and its two breakaway regions. Looking over the various databases,
then, we see a most familiar picture: the usual mix of civil conflicts, insurgencies, and liberation-themed terrorist
movements. Besides the recent Russia-Georgia dust-up, the only two potential state-on-state wars (North v. South Korea,
Israel v. Iran) are both tied to one side acquiring a nuclear weapon capacity -- a process wholly unrelated to global
economic trends. And with the United States effectively tied down by its two ongoing major interventions (Iraq and
Afghanistan-bleeding-into-Pakistan), our involvement elsewhere around the planet has been quite modest, both leading
up to and following the onset of the economic crisis: e.g., the usual counter-drug efforts in Latin America, the usual
military exercises with allies across Asia, mixing it up with pirates off Somalia's coast). Everywhere else we find serious
instability we pretty much let it burn, occasionally pressing the Chinese -- unsuccessfully -- to do something. Our new
Africa Command, for example, hasn't led us to anything beyond advising and training local forces. So, to sum up: No
significant uptick in mass violence or unrest (remember the smattering of urban riots last year in places like Greece,
Moldova and Latvia?); The usual frequency maintained in civil conflicts (in all the usual places); Not a single state-on-state
war directly caused (and no great-power-on-great-power crises even triggered); No great improvement or disruption in
great-power cooperation regarding the emergence of new nuclear powers (despite all that diplomacy); A modest scaling
back of international policing efforts by the system's acknowledged Leviathan power (inevitable given the strain); and No
serious efforts by any rising great power to challenge that Leviathan or supplant its role. (The worst things we can cite are
Moscow's occasional deployments of strategic assets to the Western hemisphere and its weak efforts to outbid the United
States on basing rights in Kyrgyzstan; but the best include China and India stepping up their aid and investments in
Afghanistan and Iraq.) Sure, we've finally seen global defense spending surpass the previous world record set in the late
1980s, but even that's likely to wane given the stress on public budgets created by all this unprecedented "stimulus"
spending. If anything, the friendly cooperation on such stimulus packaging was the most notable great-power dynamic
caused by the crisis. Can we say that the world has suffered a distinct shift to political radicalism as a result of the
The world's major economies remain governed by center-left or

center-right political factions that remain decidedly friendly to both markets and
trade. In the short run, there were attempts across the board to insulate economies from immediate damage (in effect,
as much protectionism as allowed under current trade rules), but there was no great slide into "trade wars."
economic crisis? Indeed, no.
Instead, the World Trade Organization is functioning as it was designed to function, and regional efforts toward free-trade
agreements have not slowed. Can we say Islamic radicalism was inflamed by the economic crisis? If it was, that shift was
clearly overwhelmed by the Islamic world's growing disenchantment with the brutality displayed by violent extremist
groups such as al-Qaida. And looking forward, austere economic times are just as likely to breed connecting
evangelicalism as disconnecting fundamentalism. At the end of the day, the economic crisis did not prove to be
sufficiently frightening to provoke major economies into establishing global regulatory schemes, even as it has sparked a
spirited -- and much needed, as I argued last week -- discussion of the continuing viability of the U.S. dollar as the world's
primary reserve currency. Naturally, plenty of experts and pundits have attached great significance to this debate, seeing
in it the beginning of "economic warfare" and the like between "fading" America and "rising" China. And yet, in a world of
globally integrated production chains and interconnected financial markets, such "diverging interests" hardly constitute
signposts for wars up ahead. Frankly, I don't welcome a world in which America's fiscal profligacy goes undisciplined, so
this global financial crisis has proven the

great resilience of America's post-World War II international liberal trade order. Do I
bring it on -- please! Add it all up and it's fair to say that
expect to read any analyses along those lines in the blogosphere any time soon? Absolutely not. I expect the fantastic
fear-mongering to proceed apace.
Dont buy their international modeling argument their

Das evidence says the model would be good for others
countries to follow but it doesnt say they will
2NC Oil Sustainable

Shale proves that emerging demand means oil prices will
remain high despite new sources
Simha 13 (Rakesh Krishnan Simha, Journalist and foreign affairs analyst,
Why shale is going stale and you can forget about low oil prices, Russia and
India Report, December 1, 2013,
http://in.rbth.com/blogs/2013/12/01/why_shale_is_going_stale_and_you_can_f
orget_about_low_oil_prices_31277.html)
The single biggest factor that negates the shale boom and keeps prices high
is the insatiable demand for energy in emerging countries. With global energy
trade already re-oriented from the Atlantic basin to the Asia-Pacific region,
China is set to become the worlds largest oil-importing country. And after
2020, India is forecast to become the largest single source of global oil
demand growth, says the IEA. It is also on course to become the largest
importer of coal by the early 2020s. An interesting development is that the
Middle East will emerge as a major consumption centre, emerging as the
second-largest gas consumer by 2020 and third-largest oil consumer by
2030. The IEA says the centre of grav+ity of global energy demand is now
moving decisively towards emerging economies. By 2035 they will account
for more than 90 per cent of net energy demand growth. Related: Russia sits
on largest reserves of shale oil Shale boom forces Kremlin to focus on Arctic
Russias daily oil production hits 25-year high So even if the US is able to
flood the market with new oil, the likes of China and India will soak up that
supply.
Oil prices are rising now and will stay high for the rest of
2014- assumes Middle East issues
Ligato 7/15 (Lorenzo, editor of Yale daily news, Reuters energy reporter,
Oil inches up as signs of healthy supply tempered by Libya,
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/14/markets-oilidINL4N0PP1BN20140714, 7/15/2014)
- Oil prices ended slightly higher on Monday as traders
weighed renewed violence in Libya against broader signs of a global market
well-supplied with crude. Last week, North Sea benchmark Brent closed at its lowest in three
months as easing tensions in Libya and Iraq mitigated fears of supply disruptions. But oil prices
perked up a bit on Monday as violence flared anew. "More violence in Iraq and Libya
raises some questions about their ability to keep production going, "
said James Williams, an energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas. "But the
fundamentals of supply and demand continue to be fairly balanced ." Fighting
LONDON, July 14 (Reuters)
broke out between rival militias vying for control of the airport in Tripoli on Sunday, killing at least six
people in the worst violence the capital has seen in six months. The United Nations announced on its
website on Monday that it is temporarily withdrawing its staff from Libya. Meanwhile, protesters have shut
down production at the eastern Libyan oil port of Brega, state firm National Oil Corp (NOC) said on
Saturday. No timetable was disclosed for resuming operations at the 43,000-barrel-per-day facility.
Brent
crude gained 32 cents to settle at $106.98 A barrel. It had dropped to $106.21 earlier
in the session, the lowest intraday price since April. U.S. crude futures gained 8 cents to
settle at $100.91 a barrel. The spread CL-LCO1=R between the two benchmarks
closed at $6.07. Oil prices spiked to a nine-month high last month as an
Islamist insurgency swept across Iraq.
2NC No Impact to Shocks

Shocks wont collapse the economy
Dechaux, 7 Reporter for the Herald Sun Australia (Delphine, Less
Damage in Third Oil Shock, 5-5,
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/business/nations-learn-to-weather-oilshock/2007/12/04/1196530678712.html)//AA
THE world is enduring a third ''oil shock'' as crude prices trade at record levels close to $US100 a barrel
unlike the oil shocks

of 1973 and 1980, this time the global economy remains solid, even amid the added
after a sustained surge over the past three years, according to economists. But
threat of the US housing crisis. ''There is no doubt we are in the third oil price shock,'' said Leo Drollas,
chief economist at the Centre for Global Energy Studies in London. ''Because since 2004 . . . prices have
gone from $US30 to almost $US100.'' OPEC ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi today to decide on output
quotas for the cartel argue that the oil price spike does not reflect the supply-demand situation. Rather
they believe prices have surged because of geopolitical concerns, such as that over Iran's nuclear
program. In the run-up to the 1980 oil shock prices had more than doubled. Francois Lescaroux, an
economist at IFP, a French state-run energy research body, said majority opinion was that the first two oil
shocks were due to supply factors. ''Everyone agrees this time that demand factors are pulling up prices,''
he said. The oil price shock of 1973 occurred after Arab members of OPEC halted shipments of crude to the
United States, Western Europe and Japan for their perceived support of Israel in its battle against Syria and
Egypt during the Yom Kippur War. Following the oil embargo, the price of crude jumped above $US10 a
barrel for the first time. The second oil crisis, in 1979, followed the Iranian Revolution. By the start of 1981,
oil prices had surged to $US39, which, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of $US101 a barrel today.
Yahia Said, a professor at the London School of Economics, said political unrest was a common factor in all
three oil shocks. ''In the first case, it was the Yom Kippur War of 1973, in the second case it was the Iraqi
invasion of Iran (after the Iranian Revolution). In this case it is tensions around Iraq and Iran,'' he added.
''The shock this time has not had the same negative repercussions in terms of
inflation or in terms of recession. ''It means that the economies as the result of the
previous two shocks have managed to reduce the impact of high oil prices,
especially in developed countries,'' he added.
2NC No Transition
captures


there.

would absorb.

Legislation has
costs are now considered to be at least double that of petroleumwas written, algae was a nascent concept that never wound up on anyones radar.
based fuels, although such figures can vary with location, technology and whether the algae plant




biofuels.
2NC US Not Key

China is the new lynchpin to the global economy
underpins every market including US debt
Evans 11 (Mark Evans, The Globe and Mail, Be it Resolved: The Chinese
Economy will Drive the Global Recovery, June 26, 2011, LexisNexis)
China is the world's second-largest economy, its largest exporter, and has
accounted for about 50 per cent of global growth since 2008. With continued
weakness in Europe and the U.S., sustaining even a mild recovery is
inconceivable without it. Drive the global economy? Maybe. Sustain and transform it?
Almost certainly. Deeply integrated into global supply chains and regional
production networks, it is now the largest trading partner of Japan, South
Korea and most southeast Asian nations. Its foreign reserves have topped $3trillion. Its outbound investment has increased to about $56-billion even as global investment is
declining. China's most immediate impact on the world economy is through
continuing support of the U.S. deficits and as the prime driver of about half of
global demand for key commodities. Post-2008 domestic consumption of
Chinese manufactured goods has increased along with the household
spending of a fast-increasing middle class inside China and in other parts of
Asia. Policy reforms and market adjustments are forcing Chinese enterprises to move beyond
low-wage production and toward more advanced positioning in global value chains. Testament
to China's centrality is the more difficult question: Acute property bubbles, industrial
overcapacity, and rising wages are significant challenges . The world, not just China, has
a stake in how well they are managed. The bigger long-term story is China's
rising weight and role in managing and defining the global economy. For the
moment largely a "responsible stakeholder," China's leaders are playing a generally
constructive role in institutions including the WTO, IMF, World Bank and G-20, even as they
support new regional ones that give hints of an alternative design. China's authoritarian
capitalism is not a model for many other countries. But nor will it quickly converge with
Western practices in the realms of political institutions, corporate governance or economic
structures. Global power shifts have moral and political as well as economic consequences.
With greater economic weight is coming greater assertiveness about the rules of the game.
What Beijing thinks about the preferred mix of states, citizens and markets
will be a defining feature of the world economy in the messy, multicentric, era we
have entered.
World not dependent on US economy--decoupling and

emerging powers
Wassener 09 (Bettina Wassener, news reporter from the New York Times, 6/30/09 Some
Economies Show Signs of Less Reliance on U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/business/economy/01decouple.html?sq=For%20a%20while,%20when
%20the%20economic%20crisis%20was%20at%20its%20worst,%20it%20was%20a%20dirty%20word
%20that%20only%20the%20most%20provocative%20of%20analysts%20dared%20to%20use.%20Now,
%20the%20D-word%20%E2%80%94%20decoupling%20%E2%80%94%20is%20making%20a
%20comeback,%20and%20nowhere%20more%20so%20than%20in%20Asia.%20Put%20simply,%20the
%20term%20refers%20to%20the%20theory%20that%20emerging%20markets
%20%E2%80%94%20whether%20China%20or%20Chile%20%E2%80%94%20will%20become%20less
%20dependent%20the%20United%20States%20as%20their%20economies%20become%20stronger
%20and%20more%20sophisticated.%20&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1312158790uNOrABxlDoWOoiP50Sapng)
For a while, when the economic crisis was at its worst, it was a dirty word that only the most provocative of
decoupling is making a comeback , and

nowhere more so than in Asia. Put simply, the term refers to the theory that emerging markets
whether China or Chile will become less dependent the United States as their
economies become stronger and more sophisticated . For much of last year, the
theory held up. Many emerging economies had steered clear of investments that dragged
down banking behemoths in the West, and saw nothing like the turmoil that began to engulf
analysts dared to use. Now, the D-word
the United States and Europe in 2007. But then, last autumn, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers
caused the financial system to convulse and consumer demand to shrivel, emerging economies around the
world got caught in the downdraft, and the D-word became mud. Now, the tables are turning, especially in
Asia, where many
emerging economies are showing signs of a stronger
recovery than in the West. And economists here have begun to talk of the decoupling once again.
Decoupling is happening for real , the chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs in
Hong Kong, Michael Buchanan, said in a recent interview. To be sure, the once sizzling pace of Asian
economic growth has slowed sharply as exports to and investments from outside the region slumped.
Across Asia, millions of people have lost their jobs as business dropped off and companies cut costs and
output. Asia is heavily dependent upon selling its products to consumers in the United States and Europe,
and many executives still say a strong American economy is a prerequisite for a return to the boom of
have revealed a growing

divergence between Western economies and those in much of Asia,
notably China and India. The World Bank last week forecast that the
economies of the countries that use the euro and the United States
would contract 4.5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, this year
compared with 7.2 percent and 5.1 percent growth forecast for China
and India. Forecasts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that were also
years past.
But for the past couple of months, d ata
published last week backed up this general trend. Major statistics for June, due Wednesday, are expected
to show manufacturing activity in China and India are on the mend. By contrast, purchasing managers
indexes for Europe and the United States are forecast to be merely less grim than before but still show
contractions. Why this diverging picture?
The crisis hit Asia much later. While the American economy
began languishing in 2007, Asian economies were doing well until the collapse of Lehman Brothers in
September. What followed was a rush of stimulus measures rate cuts and government spending
programs. In Asias case, these came soon after things soured for the region; in the United States, they
came much later. Moreover, developing Asian economies were in pretty good shape when the crisis struck.
The last major crisis to hit the region the financial turmoil of 1997-98 forced governments in Asia to
introduce overhauls that ultimately left them with lower debt levels, more resilient banking and regulatory
Another crucial difference is that

Asia, unlike the United States and Europe, has not had a banking crisis. Bank profits in Asia
systems and often large foreign exchange reserves.
have plunged and some have had to raise extra capital but there have been no major collapses and no
The Chinese stimulus package of 4 trillion renminbi yuan, or $585 billion,

led to a boom in spending and is a major reason why
economists are optimistic about China, and about much of the region as a whole Asias generally
lower debt levels also mean there has been no credit crunch of the
kind that has handicapped companies and consumers elsewhere. Asia
does not have a credit crunch. It has excess liquidity , Mr. Neumann of HSB C
bailouts.
announced last November, has
said. The banking system is stuffed with liquidity. This is benefiting Asian asset markets from stocks to
property and is leading to a gradual financial decoupling from the United States and Europe, Mr.
Neumann said. For the past two decades, equities markets have been driven by Western risk capital, not
Asian investors themselves, he said. Now, youre finding that Asian money is increasingly driving the
market. Analysts at Merrill Lynch agree. In a recent research note they said the Hong Kong stock market,
for example, had performed much better than markets in the United States, and property prices in the city
have risen, partly because of capital inflows from mainland China. Of course, none of this means Asia has
become completely independent from the rest of the world. Asia remains heavily reliant on exports for
economic growth. The result, despite increased decoupling, is that growth in Asia has slowed down, in
some cases sharply. The Indonesian economy, for example, is expected to grow 3.6 percent this year, the
Asian Development Bank forecasts. This compares to more than 6 percent in 2008 and 2007 The bank
expects the Indian economy to grow to 5 percent this year, and the Chinese economy 7 percent down
from 7.1 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2008. Nor has the effect been uniform. Developed Asian
economies, like Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, are much more tightly tied into the world economy and
financial system. All three are in recessions. The United States has deep structural problems that are
coming home to roost Asia hasnt got those, and that has been very, very important, says Mr. Garner of
Morgan Stanley Emerging
Asian nations went into recession last, he says.

Increasingly, they are looking like they will also to come out first and
strongest.
2NC Econ Decline Doesnt Cause War

Causal chains that link economic decline to great power
war are factually and empirically untrue
Ferguson 6 [Niall, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford
University, September/October 2006, Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign
Affairs vol. 85 issue 5, pp. 62-63, The Next War of the World, accessed 713-13, UR]
most familiar causal chain in
modern historiography links the Great Depression to the rise of fascism and
the outbreak of World War II. But that simple story leaves too much out. Nazi
Germany started the war in Europe only after its economy had recovered. Not
all the countries affected by the Great Depression were taken over by fascist
regimes, nor did all such regimes start wars of aggression. In fact, no general
relationship between economics and conflict is discernible for the century as a whole.
Some wars came after periods of growth, others were the causes rather than
the consequences of economic catastrophe, and some severe economic
crises were not followed by wars. Many trace responsibility for the butchery to extreme
Nor can economic crises explain the bloodshed. What may be the
ideologies. The Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm calls the years between 1914 and 1991 "an era of
religious wars" but argues that "the most militant and bloodthirsty religions were secular ideologies." At
the other end of the political spectrum, the conservative historian Paul Johnson blames the violence on
"the rise of moral relativism, the decline of personal responsibility [and] the repudiation of Judeo-Christian
the rise of new ideologies or the decline of old values cannot be

regarded as causes of violence in their own right. Extreme belief systems , such
as anti-Semitism, have existed for most of modern history, but only at certain
times and in certain places have they been widely embraced and translated
into violence.
values." But
No major violence empirically results from economic

crashes
Nam 10 [Moiss, Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Policy, January/February,
Foreign Policy, It Didnt Happen,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/04/it_didnt_happen?
wp_login_redirect=0, accessed 7-13-13, UR]
Just a few months ago, the consensus among influential thinkers was that the economic crisis would
Xenophobic outbursts, civil wars, collapsing

currencies, protectionism, international conflicts, and street riots were only some
of the dire consequences expected by the experts. It didn't happen. Although the crash did
cause severe economic damage and widespread human suffering, and though the world did
unleash a wave of geopolitical plagues.
change in important ways for the worse -- the International Monetary Fund, for example, estimates that the
global economy's new and permanent trajectory is a 10 percent lower rate of GDP growth than before the
the scary predictions for the most part failed to materialize. Sadly, the same
experts who failed to foresee the economic crisis were also blindsided by the
speed of the recovery. More than a year into the crisis, we now know just how off they were. From
crisis --
telling us about the imminent collapse of the international financial system to prophecies of a 10-year
recession, here are six of the most common predictions about the crisis that have been proven wrong: The
international financial system will collapse. It didn't. As Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac crashed, as Citigroup and many other pillars of the financial system teetered on the brink,
and as stock markets everywhere entered into free fall, the wise men predicted a total system meltdown.
The economy has "fallen off a cliff," warned investment guru Warren Buffett. Fellow financial wizard George
Soros agreed, noting the world economy was on "life support," calling the turbulence more severe than
The
natural corollary of such doomsday scenarios was the possibility that
depositors would lose access to the funds in their bank accounts. From there
to visions of martial law imposed to control street protests and the looting of
bank offices was just an easy step for thousands of Internet-fueled conspiracy
theorists. Even today, the financial system is still frail, banks are still failing, credit is scarce, and risks
during the Great Depression, and comparing the situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.
abound. But the financial system is working, and the perception that it is too unsafe to use or that it can
suddenly crash out of existence has largely dissipated.
Green Tech
1NC Frontline
No US green tech leadership their AIM evidence only
says algae will strengthen industries not that it will make
the US a global leader in technology
No large-scale job creation its just a drop in the bucket
for the economy
Klein 12 (Karen E. Klein, graduate of the University of Southern California, with degrees in English
and journalism, and a member of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Algae Are a
Growing Part of San Diego's Appeal, Bloomberg Businessweek, October 11, 2012,
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/algae-is-a-growing-part-of-san-diegos-appeal)//CS
Algal biofuels research generated $80.9 million in economic activity in the

region last year and employed 466, up from 215 in 2009, according to a study (pdf) from
the San Diego Association of Governments. A $4 million grant from the California
Department of Labor has helped meet growing industry demand for skilled
labor by training biofuel workers and job seekers through local universities,
community colleges, and extension programs. Keen to avoid corn-based ethanols chief
disadvantage, of diverting costly food crops away from the global food supply, entrepreneurs in the cluster
are trying to circumvent their own problems. Kirk Haney, president and CEO of SG Biofuels, has staked his
60-employee company on a tropical shrub called jatropha curcas, which produces oil that in August 2011
successfully powered a Boeing 777 Aeromexico test flight from Mexico City to Madrid. I
raised $1.3
million three days before the market meltdown, and it took me a year to raise
an additional $750,000, Haney says. In the worst of times, some of his
employees shifted to part-time jobs and others took compensation in
company equity rather than cash, he says. Jatropha production has had its share of false
starts, with several industry bankruptcies and disappointing yields in field trials. Haney says SG Biofuels
has solved those problems with hybrid crops that produce better yields with less water. A Bloomberg New
Energy Finance report released in February says that jatropha-derived aircraft fuel could be competitive
within five years. Sapphires scientists have conquered many of the early obstacles to commercial algae
production, says Zenk, including growing algae on a commercial scale with salt water and developing a
cost-effective, nonpolluting extraction process. Improving yields and protecting crops from pests and
disease are ongoing challenges, he says. He estimates that by 2015 the companys technology will be
sophisticated enough to produce the fuel economically on an industrial scale. The Bloomberg report
predicts that large-scale,
biofuel-producing algae farms will not appear

this decade. The biofuel entrepreneurs agree they are not going to
discover one magic fuel. We already found it, and its petroleum, says Mike
Lewis, co-owner of 10-year-old alternative fuels distributor Pearson Fuels in San Diego. Its absolutely
mind-boggling how efficient it is. I dont think well ever find something that
has as much widespread utility. But petroleums political and environmental drawbacks mean
that a variety of sustainable alternatives will eventually have to replace it, he adds. Haney agrees: Im
very bullish on my peers. I hope they are wildly successful, because we need a multi-pronged attack to get
this technology to scale.
Algae isnt key to US hegemony their evidence is in the

context of renewables in general, not algae biofuels
US hegemony unsustainable in the status quo convergence theory proves

Beckley 2011, (Michael Beckley, A research fellow in the International Security
Program at Harvard Kennedy Schools Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs,
Chinas Century?. 2011. AD: 7/26/12.
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Chinas_Century.pdf|Ashwin)
At its core, the debate about U.S. decline is a debate about the
relevance of history. Declinists contend that history tends to repeat
itself and that the history of world politics can be characterized as a
succession of hegemonies, 8 as the recurrent rise and fall of
the great powers, 9 as an observable pattern of great power emergence, 10 or as a series
of long cycles. 11 The Habsburg, French, and British Empires were
defeated and surpassed by rising challengers. It is therefore natural
for Americas unipolar moment to be similarly consigned to the ashheap of history. Several established academic theories underpin this cyclical view of history. First,
declinists fuse hegemonic stability theory with traditional balance

of power theory. 13 In this view, the United States, like Great
Britain in the nineteenth century, supplies the world with public
goods. Weaker states not only free-ride on these services, but also
engage in sabotage, erecting diplomatic and economic obstacles to
U.S. initiatives and forming anti-American alliances. 14 As a result, others
rise while the United States suffers from imperial overstretch. 15 Second is the
theory of convergence and its claim that, in an open global
economy, poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries.
16 China, like Germany, Japan, and South Korea before it, can reap
the advantages of backwardness, adopting modern technologies
and methods while skipping the long, arduous process of inventing
them. 17 Meanwhile U.S. investment in foreign countries tends to abort the reinvigoration of the
American domestic economy and its technical infrastructure. 18 Globalization thus
stimulates growth abroad while undercutting it at home, diffusing
not just technology but also technological and military capabilities .
Algae not key hydrocarbon fuels solve better

Clifton 4/7 Eckerd College and freelance writer (Larry, U.S. Navy's ability
to make fuel from seawater a 'game-changer', 7 April 2014,
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/usa-navy-s-ability-to-make-fuelfrom-seawater-a-game-changer/article/379930//AL)
The development of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel is being hailed as "a game-changer"
because it would significantly shorten the supply chain, a weak link that makes
any force easier to attack, according to Cullom. Ultimately, the goal is to free the Navy of its
dependence on oil-based fuels that vary in cost and availability. "We are in very challenging times where
we really do have to think in pretty innovative ways to look at how we create energy, how we value energy
and how we consume it," said Cullom. He said there is a need to challenge conventional assumptions
about energy, adding that over the last six decades we assumed there would be constant access to cheap
The process of converting seawater to fuel capable of

powering existing engines of Navy ships and planes involves a catalytic
unlimited amounts of fuel.
converter of sorts that simultaneously extracts carbon dioxide and hydrogen

gas then converts it into a fuel that looks and smells a lot like petroleumbased fuels. The technology includes a gastoliquids refining process. Dr Heather Willauer, a
research chemist who has spent the last 10 years helping to develop the technology, is elated by the
prospect of replacing oil with a readily available source that does not have to be mined, shipped or piped in
from another source. "For
the first time we've been able to develop a technology to

get CO2 and hydrogen from seawater simultaneously, that's a big
breakthrough," she said, adding that the fuel "doesn't look or smell very
different." Scientists at the US Naval Research Laboratory estimate the initial cost of jet fuel produced
by the technology will be between three and six dollars per gallon. After successfully test-flying model
aircraft powered by the new fuel source, researchers have focused on improving the quality and increasing
the amount of CO2 and hydrogen they can capture. Once
the extraction process reaches

industrial proportions the Navy will begin work on an infrastructure that
includes installing the seawater-to-fuel technology in its ships. Experts say
equipment could be installed in most large US naval vessels within a decade,
making it possible for ships to remain at sea indefinitely. "For us in the military, in
the Navy, we have some pretty unusual and different kinds of challenges," said Cullom. "We don't
necessarily go to a gas station to get our fuel, our gas station comes to us in terms of an oiler, a
replenishment ship. Developing a game-changing technology like this, seawater to fuel, really is
something that reinvents a lot of the way we can do business when you think about logistics, readiness."
Cullom says that a crucial benefit of the process is that the alternative fuel can be used in existing engines
aboard ships and aircraft. "If
you don't want to re-engineer every ship, every type of

engine, every aircraft, that's why we need what we call drop-in replacement
fuels that look, smell and essentially are the same as any kind of petroleumbased fuels." Experts say the new alternative fuel technology will at once
make the U.S. Navy less vulnerable and far more capable of carrying out
long-range missions that require a sustained presence, even in the most
remote areas of the world.

Gholz, at the

when Iraq tried to sink oil tankers carrying Iranian crude and Iran retaliated
conflict


to the 1970s,
too, the structure of the US economy offers better insulation from oil


when
US hegemony fails to shape the international order

unipolarity results in counterbalancing
Erney, 12 BA in Philosophy, Politics & the Public, and International Studies,
Xavier University and Assistant to the Director of Government Relations,
Xavier University (Rosalynd, We Wont, We Wont Rock You: The Decline of
U.S. Primacy and the Rise of the Rest, Xavier Journal of Political Science,
Volume 3, Number 1, Fall,
http://www.xavier.edu/xjop/documents/XJOP2012VolIIINo1Erney.pdf)//SY
The first error that Brooks and Wohlforth make in their argument is to
overestimate the power of the U.S. hegemony. Though the United States is
powerful, other states like China, Brazil and India are rising, both militarily
and economically. As these states rise and become more powerful, the U.S.
will become less able to form the world after its own image. Additionally, the
American hegemony thesis ignores the importance of interconnectivity in a
globalized world. Because there is significant interconnection across issue
areas, any change in one nations foreign policy is likely to cause a chain
reaction among other states. Thus, other states are likely to respond to
unilateral military action on the part of the United States by adopting policies
less favorable to American interests. Moreover, American tendency to act
unilaterally can also cause serious problems for its foreign policy later on.
Unilateral action reduces the pool of voluntary help from which the U.S. can
hope to draw from in the future. Foreign perception of the misuse of American
power encourages other states to work with one another to check American
power. Ultimately, the United States will be unable to continue its misuse and
exaggeration of power as other states rise.
Econ Turn
Green tech puts the economy at risk stock bubbles and
speculation means it could collapse at any time
Puskorius 13 (Viktoras, Global Edge Writer ,9/4/13, Green Technology: The Next Big Economic
Bubble, http://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/1540/green-technology--the-next-big-economic-bubble, ND)
Economic bubbles have been a reoccurring economic cycle in the world

throughout the history of capitalism. Recent economic bubbles that the world has
experienced include dot-com/telecom, real estate, stocks, and biotech bubbles. They date back to the
1880s when the first railroad tracks were laid down in the United States. The goal was to connect the
United States through economic integration and development, which created a boom in the development
Many of these projects were funded by

the government, and now green technology projects are funded by them as
well. Globally, governments are beginning to promote green technologies
through loans and subsidies. The rapid growth the world has seen in green
technology could be the start of the next big economic bubble. An example of a
of canals, turnpikes, railroads, and telephone lines.
green-tech company that has seen high growth and popularity in the past year is the electric car maker
Tesla. The company is using popularity and interest in its electric cars to create a micro bubble in its stock.
Currently the car company is trading at about $170 per share, while it has
only reported positive earnings in one quarter throughout its tenure as a
public company. How could a company be trading at such a high stock price,
but report negative earnings consistently? Because investors speculate and
believe there is potential for high growth in the future. It is not just the United States
that is experiencing a boom in green technology. Both the German and Chinese
governments have offered subsidies to expand solar panel production. These
countries experienced the boom of solar panels, but also the bust of the
bubble. Companies saw great opportunities in this area through government
subsidies, which increased supply, followed by a price downfall and
bankruptcies. Currently, China is able to export green products cheaply to other countries because of
subsidies and low labor costs, making green technology companies around the world uncompetitive. The
companies of the United States need to differentiate themselves through
innovative technologies and business models. The boom in green technology
that the world has felt could have important influences on the global
economy and environment. As more countries begin to use green technology, the world will be
reducing emissions and improving the environment. Also, as new technology and businesses are formed,
Could the boom in green technology

experience be a bust, as many other booms in the past? Yes, countries such
as China and Germany have already experienced the bust portion of this
economic cycle, and it is very possible for the United States to follow the in
the same footsteps. The United States has already seen an oil boom with the
introduction of hydraulic fracking. The economic cycles of bubbles booming and busting have
been experienced by economies around the world. Investors have felt excitement in the dot-com boom ,
but have also felt the bust of the housing market, which sent the economy
into a rapid recession. As green tech companies begin to gain popularity,
they could become the next big bubble or the next big bust. There are signs of a
job openings and growth in the economy could occur.
green tech bubble throughout the global economy, including individual companies such as Tesla, solar
panels in China and Germany, and hydraulic fracking in the United States.
Profit-Motive Turn
Profit-motive crushes sustainability substitutes
commodity relationships for ecological relationships and
causes self-interest to override environmental protection
Sullivan 11 [Sian Sullivan, Professor of Environment and Culture, Bath Spa
University, Towards a Synthesized Critique of Neoliberal Biodiversity
Conservation July 2011 http://siansullivan.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/cnspaper-final-july2011.pdf]//kevin
One of neoliberalisms raison-detres is to expand and intensify global
capitalism (Harvey 2005). Capitalism, in turn, is at the heart of the dramatic
ecological changes and crises unleashed in the last two centuries (OConnor
1998; Foster 2007; Kovel 2002; Burkett 2006).6 With the rise of capitalism,
the means for, scale of, and drive towards ecosystem transformation has
grown dramatically. In dialectical interaction with technological developments
and the intensification of colonial extraction (amongst other factors),
emerging capitalist societies became more adept at offsetting local and
regional ecological transformations extra-locally and extra-regionally, hence
laying the foundations for ecological crisis on a world-scale, or a crisis in the
world-ecology, as Moore (2010) puts it. Across space (extensification) and
within spaces (intensification), capitalism has disrupted and changed the
metabolism of ecological processes and connections (Kovel 2002, 82).
Bearing in mind our comments on environmental crises above, here we
emphasize two key aspects of capitalisms propensity to stimulate large-scale
ecological crises. The first has to do with the nature of ecological crisis.
Diversity, connectivity and relationships are crucial for the resilience of
ecosystems. Ecology 101 teaches students that everything hangs together
with everything else, which is both the reason why studying ecosystems is
both such a joy and so complex. Capitalisms drive to turn everything into
exchange value (into commodities that can be traded) cuts up these
connections and relationships in order to produce, sell and consume their
constituent elements. Hence, as Kovel (2002, 130-131) shows, capitalism
separates, splits andbecause in principle everything can be bought and
or sold alienates and estranges. To further bring conservation into
capitalism, then, is to lay bare the various ecosystemic threads and linkages
so that they can be further subjected to separation, marketization and
alienation, albeit in the service of conservation rhetoric. The second point has
to do with the nature of capital, which, as Marx (1976, 256) pointed out, is
value in process, money in process: it comes out of circulation, enters into it
again, preserves and multiplies itself within circulation, emerges from it with
an increased size, and starts the same cycle again and again. Capital is
always on the move; if it ceases to move and circulate, the whole system is
threatened. The recent financial crisis has made this abundantly clear. From
Washington via London to Tokyo, all leaders of rich countries were primarily
concerned with making sure that banks would start lending again in order to
get money back into circulation. As such, capitalism is inherently

expansionist, striving continuously to bring more and more facets of life into
its orbit, including natural worlds at multiple scales. Making clear the
(monetary) exchange value of nature so as to calculate what price has to be
paid in order to conserve its services, then, is not just about trying to
preserve ecosystems, as the currently popular adagio payments for
environmental services would have it. It is about finding new arenas for
markets to operate in and thus to expand the remit, and ultimately the
circulation of capital. Payments go to those able to capture them, rather than
directly to nature, and this explains why conservation responses to ecological
crises, although popularly understood as in contestation to the environmental
effects of capitalism, now are providing such fruitful avenues for further
capitalist expansion (Sullivan 2010). One of the key ways in which this has
occurred has been through infusing conservation policy and practice with the
analytical tools of neoliberal economics, without recognizing that these are
themselves infused with, and reinforce, particular ideological positions
regarding human relationships with each other as well as with non- human
natures. It is to this point that we now turn.
2NC No Job Creation

No economic benefit 130 jobs doesnt affect the
countrys economy
McMahon 12 (Jeff McMahon, experimentalist who studies cosmology and
fundamental physics through measurements of the cosmic microwave
background at the University of Michigan, Obama's Favorite Algae
Company, Forbes, February 26, 2012,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2012/02/26/obamas-favorite-algaecompany/)//CS
Obama used the studys more conservative number. The authors found that algae has the potential to
level of production would

require vast amounts of fresh water and land: 5.5 percent of the land area in
the conterminous United States and nearly three times the water currently
used for irrigated agriculture. The authors consider 17 percent a viable number based on
replace up to 48 percent of fuel imports for transporationbut that
optimal land and water and geographic placement of algae farms. They did not propose a timeline for
they identified a potential Achilles Heel of

algal biofuels: up to 350 gallons of fresh water would be needed to produce
one gallon of oil from algae. Thats where Floridas Algenol Biofuels comes in: its biorefineries
development of an algal energy industry, but
grow algae in saltwater and can sequester carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released to the
atmosphere from industrial or power plants. The Energy Department study did not consider saltwater
Algenol broke ground in October on a 36-acre facility in Lee County,

Florida that will use 3,000 sealed bioreactors to produce ethanol from
algae. The project is expected to create 130 jobs. Algenols process collects
production.
ethanol that algae produce naturally within their cells instead of collecting oil from algae and converting it
to ethanol, said CEO Paul Woods: Algenol creates the ethanol directly from the photosynthetic internal
sugars that the algae make naturally. Most algae can make ethanol, just tiny amounts. Algenol enhances a
natural process. The sugars are immediately converted into ethanol in the cell, and that ethanol easily
diffuses from the cell and enters the salt water culture without the cell being harvested or killed. New cells
are not needed. Beyond the ethanol self separating from the cell, it evaporates from the culture, mostly at
night when it cools down in the dark, and then the fresh water ethanol mixture condenses on the inner
walls of the photobioreactor and drips down into troughs on the side walls of the photobioreactors above
the culture. The company had originally partnered with Dow Chemical to build a demonstration plant at a
Dow facility in Freeport, Texas, but Dow withdrew from the projectexcept as a supplier of plastics and
potential purchaser of ethanol. Algenol shifted the facility to Florida adjacent to laboratories it also
developed with the $25 million stimulus grant. The Dow Chemical Company supports the decision to build
one larger facility in Lee County, Florida, Algenol announced in a 2010 press release. A Bio-Refinery
located next to Algenols new state-of-the-art laboratories will have greater capabilities and be more
effective and efficient. A year later Algenol announced its development collaboration with Dow had come
to an end. Applications are due April 18 for the Energy Departments new $14 million in grants, with the
funding subject to Congressional approval.
2NC No Oil Dependence I/L

Market flooding has no impact on the price - too many alt
causes
Mataconis 11 Attorney, regular contributor (Doug, Strategic Petroleum
Reserve Release Had No Impact On Oil Prices, Outside the Beltway, 7-6-2011,
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/strategic-petroleum-reserve-release-hadno-impact-on-oil-prices/)//BDS
About two weeks ago, the United States and several other countries
announced that they were releasing oil reserves on the market in an effort to
make up for supply disruptions caused by the civil unrest in Libya. The U.S.
contribution to this release was some 30,000,000 barrels from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve. As predicted by many, that action has had absolutely no
impact on the price of oil: Crude raced higher Tuesday as energy bulls pushed
Nymex oil back toward the $100-a-barrel mark, prices last seen before world
governments said they would release crude from their reserves last month.
West Texas Intermediate jumped 2.1 percent to $96.89 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange, decidedly above the $94.45 close of June 22, the
day before the announcement on the release of 60 million barrels from
reserves. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange finished $2.25 higher at
$113.63 a barrel, and just below the June 22 high of $114.21. Brent touched
$114.44 Tuesday. I think we could probably test that $100 mark again. I also
think for it to be sustained up there, youd have to have something a little
more going on, like geopolitical problems or some demand pickup, said
Anthony Grisanti, president of GRZ Energy. Some traders said the price gains
Tuesday came from speculation that demand could tighten if the world
economy improves, but others pointed to momentum and technical factors.
The WTI August futures contract broke above its 200-day moving average of
$96.18. On June 22, the day before the announcement by the International
Energy Agency that crude would be released from strategic reserves, it was
at $95.41. It hit a low close of $90.84 on June 27. None of this should be
surprising. After all, the amount of oil that was released was infinitesimal in
comparison to the amount of oil consumed by the United States, not to
mention the world as a whole, in a single day. The idea that such a small
release would have anything other than a temporary impact on prices is
absurd, and brings to mind again the question of exactly why the nations of
the world took this step when it so painfully obvious that it wouldnt work.
2NC Heg Resilient

Data driven assessments ignore the relational aspect of
heg US is fine
White 13 (Thomas White, writer for The Huffington Post, Global Academic Fellow, NYU [Why U.S.
Hegemony Is Here to Stay Huffington Post, November 12, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomaswhite/why-us-hegemony-is-here-t_b_4258264.html, 7/16/14 JW]
U.S. hegemonic decline has been debated for decades, and the newest foil to
its authority is China. The U.S. currently exists as the world's one and only
superpower. But it is folly to believe that the U.S. will be deposed by China
anytime soon, even with its double-digit growth and increasing regional
influence. Reports foretelling the end of U.S. hegemony rely on raw
data, when it is international relationships that truly undergird
world superpowers. No economic, military, and public opinion formula will
decide the world's next global hegemon. These components matter--but not
without international legitimacy, as derived from, and defined by, a global
coalition of the willing. It is here that the U.S. reigns supreme. The U.S.
has won over, however begrudgingly, the international community as a
whole. And until this allegiance to the U.S. breaks down, she will remain the
absolute world superpower. The U.S. wields a power of influence, persuasion,
and leadership on the international stage that no other state comes close to.
She sets international law, ignores international law, and is accountable to no
one. China, while clearly jockeying for authority and power, does not yet have
legitimacy.
2NC No Heg Decline Impact

Hegemony doesnt allow the US to deter conflicts or
otherwise influence international affairs
Farley, 12 Assistant Professor, Patterson School of Diplomacy and
International Commerce, University of Kentucky (Robert, Over the Horision:
The Future of American Hegemony, World Politics Review, 3/7,
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/11696/over-the-horizon-thefuture-of-american-hegemony)//SY
What are the dangers? Hegemony has never meant the ability to achieve any outcome the
United States wants, whenever it wants. Indeed, hegemony may mean the
luxury to make dreadful mistakes without suffering dreadful consequences.
However, as the gap between the United States and other great powers
declines, the margin for error narrows. The most dangerous steps for the
United States to take would involve projects that threaten fiscal capacity
while also undercutting the U.S.-sponsored system of global management.
The invasion of Iraq, for example, is not an undertaking that the United States
would want to repeat in the future. It undermined global confidence in both
the international system of governance and the decision-making capacity of
the United States government, while damaging the fiscal health of the United
States. Ironically, advocates of the war believed that it would demonstrate
not only American power, but also reinforce confidence in American
leadership.
US hegemony doesnt solve wars and decline doesnt

result in great power wars
Erney, 12 BA in Philosophy, Politics & the Public, and International Studies,
Xavier University and Assistant to the Director of Government Relations,
Xavier University (Rosalynd, We Wont, We Wont Rock You: The Decline of
U.S. Primacy and the Rise of the Rest, Xavier Journal of Political Science,
Volume 3, Number 1, Fall,
http://www.xavier.edu/xjop/documents/XJOP2012VolIIINo1Erney.pdf)//SY
Zakaria, Mason and Ikenberry agree that while the United States will continue
to hold military supremacy over the world, the significance of that supremacy
is relatively declining. First, the U.S. is beginning to discover the limits of its
military power in Vietnam, Somalia, and Haiti among others, and almost
every case of U.S. military intervention in the post-war period, U.S. goals
were not ultimately achieved (Mason 2009). While America does still
currently hold the largest and most technologically advanced military in the
world, it has become increasingly unlikely that any military struggle will arise in this power
struggle. David Ikenberry (2008) argues that in the age of nuclear deterrence,
great-power war is, thankfully, no longer a mechanism of historical change.

War-driven change has been abolished as a historical process (Ikenberry
2008). This new great power war, rather, will take place in the realm of
economicswhere the United States is clearly in decline.
Peak Oil
1NC Frontline
lack of supply

found that

Peak oil theory wrong

Hossein-zadeh 8 (Professor of Economics, Drake (Ismael, 6/25, Are they really oil wars?,
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JF25Dj05.html)
Peak Oil theory is based on a number of assumptions and omissions that make
it less than reliable. To begin with, it discounts or disregards the fact that
energy-saving technologies have drastically improved (and will continue
to further improve) the efficiency of oil consumption. Evidence shows that, for example, "over a
period of five years (1994-99), US GDP expanded over 20% while oil usage rose by only 9%. Before the
1973 oil shock, the ratio was about one to one." [4] Second, Peak Oil theory pays scant attention to the
new technologies that have made (and will continue to make)

possible discovery and extraction of oil reserves that were inaccessible only a short
drastically enabling
time ago. One of the results of the more efficient means of research and development has been a far
higher success rate in finding new oil fields. The success rate has risen in 20 years from less than 70%
Computers have helped to reduce the number of dry holes.

Another important development has been
deep-water offshore drilling, which the new technologies now permit. Good examples
to over 80%.
Horizontal drilling has boosted extraction.
are the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and more recently, the promising offshore oil fields of West
theory also pays short shrift to what is sometimes called

non-conventional oil. These include Canada's giant reserves of extra-heavy bitumen that
can be processed to produce conventional oil. Although this was originally
considered cost inefficient, experts working in this area now claim that they
have brought down the cost from over US$20 a barrel to $8 per barrel. Similar
Africa. [5] Third, Peak Oil
developments are taking place in Venezuela. It is thanks to developments like these that since 1970,
world oil reserves have more than doubled, despite the extraction of hundreds of millions of barrels. [6]
Peak Oil thesis pays insufficient attention to energy sources other

than oil. These include solar, wind, non-food bio-fuel, and nuclear energies.
They also include natural gas. Gas is now about 25% of energy demand worldwide. It is
Fourth,
estimated that by 2050 it will be the main source of energy in the world. A number of American,
European, and Japanese firms are investing heavily in developing fuel cells for cars and other vehicles
proponents of Peak Oil tend to

exaggerate the impact of the increased oil demand coming from China and
India on both the amount and the price of oil in global markets. The alleged
that would significantly reduce gasoline consumption. [7] Fifth,
disparity between supply and demand is said to be due to the rapidly growing demand coming from
China and India. But that rapid growth in demand is largely offset by a number of counterbalancing
factors. These include slower growth in US demand due to its slower economic growth, efficient energy
utilization in industrially advanced countries, and increases in oil production by members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia, and others. Finally, and perhaps more
claims of "peaked and dwindling" oil are refuted by the

available facts and figures on global oil supply. Statistical
evidence shows that there is absolutely no supply-demand imbalance
importantly,
in
global oil markets. Contrary to the claims of the proponents of Peak Oil and champions of war and
current oil price shocks are a direct consequence of the

destabilizing wars and geopolitical insecurity in the Middle East, not oil shortages.
militarism, the
These include not only the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the threat of a looming war against
Iran. The record of soaring oil prices shows that anytime there is a renewed US military threat against
Iran, fuel prices move up several notches.
Foreign oil dependence low now domestic production is

taking the lead
White 11 writer for the LA Times; covers the maritime industry, trade, transportation, and the oil
industry; spent 15 years as a reporter, editor, and editorial writer at the Washington Post (Ron, U.S.
dependence on foreign oil wanes as domestic production booms, LA Times, 10/29/11,
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/29/business/la-fi-oil-boom-20111029)
U.S. dependence on foreign oil wanes as domestic production

booms. Energy producers are using technology and new drilling
techniques to find crude and coax more production from old wells. October 29,
2011|By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times In a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper, Hal Washburn is
drilling for oil. Using a black high-definition computer screen, the petroleum engineer traces the ghostly
white outlines of century-year-old vertical oil wells punctuated by the bright green and red of more recent
efforts. The newer wells flare with what look like thousands of tiny hairs; the hotter the color, the greater
the amount of oil. "Today, we drill a lot of wells on the computer before we drill underground," said
Washburn, chief executive of Breitburn Energy Partners. The new crude being tapped on screen and in
real life comes from Santa Barbara County's Orcutt oil field, one of the state's oldest, previously thought
to be in terminal decline. "It's been a huge home run for us," Washburn said. Domestic energy producers
like Breitburn have helped reverse the nation's once-escalating dependence on foreign oil by finding new
U.S. net petroleum imports have

fallen to about 47% of the nation's consumption, down from a record
60.3% in 2005, Energy Information Administration statistics show.
It's been 15 years since the nation's reliance on foreign oil has been
this low. Several factors figure into the import decline, but a big one is a little surprising: U.S.
petroleum exploration is experiencing a quiet renaissance with the
help of technology and new drilling techniques. The number of oil rigs in
production in the U.S. has reached a 24-year high, according to oil field
ways to figure out the secrets buried beneath our feet.
services company Baker Hughes. In 2005, domestic production was 1.89 billion barrels. This year, experts
say, production is expected to surpass 2 billion barrels. Over the last decade, geoscientists and engineers
have come as close as technologically possible to creating a transparent image of the underground,
bringing new life to old wells and finding billion-barrel formations, called "elephants." "What's happening
across the U.S. demonstrates how technology again and again opens new doors, and also old doors, that
people thought were closed forever," l "Three-dimensional seismic technology has become much more
sophisticated. New drilling methods allow them to penetrate formations that were once thought to be
impenetrable. So we've seen a lot of investment dollars going back into areas that had appeared very
unpromising." Orcutt is one example. In 1901, wildcatters found "brown shale," a sign that oil was present
in exploitable quantities. But they bypassed that shallow layer and went straight down; various operators
eventually drilled nearly 2,000 vertical wells that averaged about 3,000 feet in depth. Breitburn acquired
the field in 2004 and determined that the shallow layer of diatomite a very porous, lightweight rock
contained more oil than any other part of the formation. "They didn't have the science. They didn't have a
clue," said Breitburn's William S. Fong, senior staff reservoir engineer. " We
have doubled the
oil production in this field,
and it is all coming from the shallow layer, no more than 900 feet
deep." Monthly oil production at Orcutt has climbed to nearly 90,000 barrels from 50,000 barrels. In Santa
Fe Springs, another Breitburn oil field is delivering about 2,000 barrels a day rather than the 700 barrels a
day it would have using old vertical well techniques. The gains have come from offset angle drilling, where
the wells are dug at angles between 45 degrees and 80 degrees, into areas between old vertical wells
where crude still remains, said Chuck Hawkins, Breitburn's project manager. Breitburn isn't the only
California oil company looking to reverse California's long decline in oil production. Over the last five years,
privately held Signal Hill Petroleum has buried 6,000 small yellow canisters around Long Beach and Signal
Hill that contain sophisticated equipment so sensitive it can record the vibrations of a person walking past.
The devices work in tandem with the company's fleet of "vibroseis" trucks, 68,000-pound vehicles that use
hydraulics to bounce. The bouncing trucks produce vibrations that create images of formations as far as 3
miles underground, said Dave Slater, chief operating officer for Signal Hill Petroleum. Slater says his small,
110-employee company and a subsidiary, the 70-employee Nodal Seismic, have sunk "tens of millions of
dollars" into the effort. When we import oil, we really get no jobs out of it, no taxes from that oil. It's just a
down below us, we believe there is

a lot of oil that hasn't been tapped." The leading edge of the production boom has
huge suction on the economy "," Slater said. "And
come in parts of Texas, such as the Eagle Ford shale formation and the Permian Basin, as well as the
Bakken formation, a huge reservoir under parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and
Saskatchewan, said Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst for Oppenheimer and Co. Gheit added that much of
the work is from smaller oil companies that few people are familiar with. There's so much oil coming out of
the Bakken formation that it has outstripped the existing pipeline capacity to move it to refineries for
processing. Railroads such as BNSF and Canadian National have been pressed into service to move some
of the crude. New production isn't the only reason for the drop in foreign oil dependency. Ethanol now
accounts for a larger share of every gallon of gasoline, reducing the amount of refined oil needed. In
addition, U.S. demand for gasoline and other refined products has declined, in part from the global
recession and subsequent weak economic recovery. Refineries also have gotten more efficient and waste
less oil in processing fuels. But the most important change has been "the ability to make the ground below
seem transparent," said Jonathan G. Kuespert, Breitburn's senior geoscience advisor. "We were never able
to do that before."

Gholz, at the

conflict when Iraq tried to sink oil tankers carrying Iranian crude and Iran retaliated


to the 1970s,
too, the structure of the US economy offers better insulation from oil

when
No resource warsreject their method

Barnett, 9 visiting scholar at the Howard Baker Center, University of Tennessee (Thomas, "Threat of
great power war recedes", The Daily Sentinel, 3/21/09,
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/03/21/barnett_power_war.html?
cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=9)
Remember when
Cold Warriors predicted wed fight the Soviets across the arc of crisis for
precious resources? Well, back then, both sides lived within miniature
versions of todays global economy. In that bifurcated world economy, zerosum resource wars were entirely plausible. That bifurcated world no longer
exists, as evidenced by the recent financial contagion. In globalization,
demand determines power more than supply . Dont believe me? Imagine a world where
theres no Chinese demand for U.S. debt or no U.S. demand for Chinese exports. Dreaming up
future resource wars to obviate our militarys necessary adjustment to this
eras security tasks will not render them moot. Indeed, like Somalias recent
pirate epidemic, they invariably attract the collaborative efforts of other great
powers, like China and India, which have no choice but to defend their
growing economic networks.
Why do I so casually dismiss resource wars as a strategic planning principle?
2NC Oil Dependence

No peak oil oil supply capacity is growing faster than
consumption
Perry, 12 professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of
the University of Michigan; holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason
University in Washington, D.C; holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of
Management at the University of Minnesota (Mark, No Peak Oil In Sight: Weve Got An Unprecedented
Upsurge In Global Oil Production Underway, Daily Markets, 6/26/12,
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2012 /06/26/no-peak-oil-in-sight-weve-got-an-unprecedentedupsurge-in-global-oil-production-underway/)
The global oil boom underway represents the most significant increase in any decade since the 1980s. In
the tradition of resource economist Julian Simon, here are some of the conclusions and predictions from
new research just published by Harvard Research Fellow Leonardo Maugeri, titled Oil: The Next
Revolution; The Unprecedented Upsurge of Oil Production Capacity" 1. Contrary to what most people
oil is not in short supply and oil supply capacity is growing worldwide at
such an unprecedented level that it might outpace consumption. From a purely
physical point of view, there are huge volumes of conventional and unconventional
oils still to be developed, with no peak-oil in sight. The full deployment of the worlds
believe,
oil potential depends only on price, technology, and political factors. More than 80 percent of the
additional production under development globally appears to be profitable with a price of oil higher than
2. The shale/tight oil boom in the United States is not a temporary

bubble, but the most important revolution in the oil sector in decade s. It will
probably trigger worldwide emulation, although the U.S. boom is difficult to be replicated
$70 per barrel.
given the unique features of the U.S. oil (and gas) arena. Whatever the timing, emulation over the next
decades might bear surprising results, given the fact that most shale/tight oil resources in the world are
still unknown and untapped. China appears to be the first country to follow the U.S. example. Moreover ,
the extension of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing combined to

conventional oil fields might dramatically increase worlds oil production and
revive mature, declining oilfields. 3. In the aggregate, conventional oil production is also
growing throughout the world, although some areas (e.g. the North Sea), face an apparently irreversible
decline of the production capacity. In most traditional producing countries, old oilfields go through a
production revival thanks to better techniques and knowledge, or advanced exploration and production
technologies, so far used only in the U.S. and in the North Sea. Huge parts of the world are still relatively
unexplored for conventional oil (for example, the Arctic Sea or most of sub-Saharan Africa). 4. Over the
the growing role of unconventional oils will make the Western

hemisphere the new center of gravity of oil exploration and production. 5. Based on
original, bottom-up, field-by-field analysis of most oil exploration and development
projects in the world, this paper suggests that an unrestricted, additional
production of more than 49 million barrels per day (mbd) of oil is targeted for 2020,
the equivalent of more than half the current world production capacity of 93
mbd. 6. After adjusting this substantial figure considering the risk factors affecting the actual
next decades,
accomplishment of the projects on a country-by-country basis, the additional production that could come
by 2020 is about 29 mbd. Factoring in depletion rates of currently producing oilfields and their reserve
growth, the net additional production capacity by 2020 could be 17.6 mbd, yielding a world oil production
capacity of 110.6 mbd by that date as shown in Figure 1 above. This would represent the most significant
increase in any decade since the 1980s. MP: Peak what?
Market flooding has no impact on the price - too many alt

causes
Mataconis 11 Attorney, regular contributor (Doug, Strategic Petroleum
Reserve Release Had No Impact On Oil Prices, Outside the Beltway, 7-6-2011,
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/strategic-petroleum-reserve-release-hadno-impact-on-oil-prices/)//BDS
About two weeks ago, the United States and several other countries
announced that they were releasing oil reserves on the market in an effort to
make up for supply disruptions caused by the civil unrest in Libya. The U.S.
contribution to this release was some 30,000,000 barrels from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve. As predicted by many, that action has had absolutely no
impact on the price of oil:
Crude raced higher Tuesday as energy bulls pushed Nymex oil back toward
the $100-a-barrel mark, prices last seen before world governments said they
would release crude from their reserves last month.
West Texas Intermediate jumped 2.1 percent to $96.89 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange, decidedly above the $94.45 close of June 22, the
day before the announcement on the release of 60 million barrels from
reserves.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange finished $2.25 higher at $113.63 a
barrel, and just below the June 22 high of $114.21. Brent touched $114.44
Tuesday.
I think we could probably test that $100 mark again. I also think for it to be
sustained up there, youd have to have something a little more going on, like
geopolitical problems or some demand pickup, said Anthony Grisanti,
president of GRZ Energy.
Some traders said the price gains Tuesday came from speculation that
demand could tighten if the world economy improves, but others pointed to
momentum and technical factors.
The WTI August futures contract broke above its 200-day moving average of
$96.18.
On June 22, the day before the announcement by the International Energy
Agency that crude would be released from strategic reserves, it was at
$95.41. It hit a low close of $90.84 on June 27.
None of this should be surprising. After all, the amount of oil that was
released was infinitesimal in comparison to the amount of oil consumed by
the United States, not to mention the world as a whole, in a single day. The
idea that such a small release would have anything other than a temporary
impact on prices is absurd, and brings to mind again the question of exactly
why the nations of the world took this step when it so painfully obvious that it
wouldnt work.
2NC No Resource Wars

Resource wars wont escalate to great power conflict
Dombrowski, 4 associate professor, US Naval War College's Strategic Research Department
(Peter, Naval War College Review, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JIW/is_1_57/ai_113755359/print)
Klare barely pauses to consider the possibility that diplomatic,

economic, and political developments might ease potential resource conflicts
before they escalate into armed conflicts. After all, countries fighting over access to
water or oil could simply negotiate arrangements or allow market forces to
Unfortunately,
dictate outcomes; the author himself notes examples and cases where diplomatic solutions have
the absence of economic reasoning in this book is startling.

After all, economists from cranks to countless mainstream professionals have demonstrated
how market forces can help manage the worst aspects of resource shortages .
Thus energy shortages that lead to price increases in turn encourage consumers to
conserve; consumption is reduced, as well as overall dependence. Hence, despite tremendous
succeeded in the past. In fact,
economic growth, Western Europe, Japan, and even the United States have become much more energy
efficient since the oil shock of the 1970s. Substitution effects
perhaps not for a resource as fundamental and elemental as water.
are also possible, although
2NC Cant Solve Oil Dependence

captures


there.

would absorb.

Legislation has
costs are now considered to be at least double that of petroleumwas written, algae was a nascent concept that never wound up on anyones radar.
based fuels, although such figures can vary with location, technology and whether the algae plant




biofuels.
2NC Peak Oil Wrong

Running out of oil is impossible.
Stevenson 6/25 (Tim, Dir-Post Oil Solutions and staff-Brattleboro Reformer, Is
Peak Oil Dead?, http://www.reformer.com/ci_20930567/is-peak-oil-dead?
source=most_viewed) LL
"If we dont change our course, well end up where were headed," says an ancient Chinese proverb. From
the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the prairies of North Dakota, and many places in between,
the production of oil and gas in the United States has greatly
increased over recent years through the industrys ability to access
heretofore inaccessible and unaffordable "unconventional oil." Using
new technology and financed by the rising prices of oil since the mid-2000s, national oil production has
risen over the past four years from 4.95 million barrels a day (mb/d) to 5.7. The Energy Department
projects 7 mb/d by 2020, while other experts claim production could eventually be 10 million, which would
put the United States in the league with Saudi Arabia. With this increased production, a growing number of
people (especially from the oil industry, Wall Street, and the Republican Party) have loudly proclaimed the
end of peak oil, dismissing it as a myth that has now been dispelled. Were not running out of oil, they
But peak oil is not about the end of oil. Geologically speaking,
that will never happen. Rather, peak oil is about the end of the
cheap, abundant, easy to extract oil, the "sweet" crude that has
been the bedrock of our industrial civilization, and the basis of the
economic growth weve come to take for granted. This older oil still accounts
insist.
for 75 percent of our daily consumption, but has been disappearing at the rate of 3-4 mb/d each year, and
will be largely gone in 20 years. As older fields dry up, newer ones are not being discovered. In 20 years,
cheap oil will be largely gone.
New discoveries will triple reserves new technology

makes it cost effective
CERA 06 (Cambridge Energy Research Associates (Peak Oil Theory World Running Out of
Oil Soon Is Faulty; Could Distort Policy & Energy Debate, 11/14,
http://www.cera.com/aspx/cda/public1/news/pressReleases/pressReleaseDetails.aspx?CID=8444)
In contrast to a widely discussed theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into
sharp decline,
a new analysis of the subject by Cambridge Energy

Research Associates (CERA) finds that the remaining global oil
resource base is actually 3.74 trillion barrels -- three times as
large as the 1.2 trillion barrels estimated by the theorys
proponents -- and that the peak oil argument is based on faulty
analysis which could, if accepted, distort critical policy and investment
decisions and cloud the debate over the energy future. The global resource base
of conventional and unconventional oils, including historical
production of 1.08 trillion barrels and yet-to-be-produced
resources, is 4.82 trillion barrels and likely to grow , CERA Director of Oil
Industry Activity Peter M. Jackson writes in Why the Peak Oil Theory Falls Down: Myths, Legends, and
the Future of Oil Resources. The CERA projection is based on the firms analysis of fields currently in
production and those yet-to-be produced or discovered. The peak oil theory causes confusion and
can lead to inappropriate actions and turn attention away from the real issues, Jackson observes. Oil
is too critical to the global economy to allow fear to replace careful analysis about the very real
challenges with delivering liquid fuels to meet the needs of growing economies. This is a very
important debate, and as such it deserves a rational and measured discourse. This
is the
fifth time that the world is said to be running out of oil , says CERA
Chairman Daniel Yergin. Each time -- whether it was the gasoline famine
at the end of WWI or the permanent shortage of the 1970s -technology and the opening of new frontier areas has banished
the specter of decline. Theres no reason to think that technology
is finished this time.
2NC Russia Add On

Low oil prices cause energy diversification in Russia
VOA 11 (Voice of America, news outlet, IMF: Russia Must Reduce Oil Dependence, Diversify,
http://www.voanews.com/content/imf-russia-must-reduce-oil-dependence-133449298/169363.html)
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that Russia, the world's
largest oil producer, needs to reduce its reliance on oil revenues and diversify its
economy to keep it stable. The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said Tuesday in Moscow that
even though Russia has enacted fiscal reforms in recent years , it still faces "important
vulnerabilities." She said the country's budget deficit, excluding oil revenues,
has more than tripled, and that Russia needs to move "toward a more vibrant
and diversified economy." Russia defaulted on its debts and devalued its currency in
1998 when faced with an economic crisis that was blamed in part on falling
oil prices. Lagarde said Russia needs to create "a more welcoming investment
climate" that will require more structural economic reforms . She said
changes in its economy would give Russia longer-lasting economic growth and
create enough jobs for its population. Lagarde said that even though European leaders adopted a plan last
month to help resolve the continent's debt crisis, "the world is suffering from a collective crisis of
confidence." She said that if the crisis is not contained, emerging economies adjacent to the 17-nation bloc
that uses the euro currency, including Russia, would be "severely hit" by lower exports and new financial
region "must get prepared for any potential storms" and that
there is "no room for complacency. The stakes are very high."
strains. She said the
Drop in oil prices causes diversification- it acts as a

backstop to low oil prices and is a better internal link to
stable growth
Gorst 12 (Isabel, Caspian/central Asian correspondent at Financial Times,
EBRD to Russia- diversify, http://blogs.ft.com/beyondbrics/2012/12/14/ebrd-to-russia-diversify/)
Russia has talked a lot about economic diversification over the past two decades but
it has made little progress in weaning itself off revenues from natural resources. A new
report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development sets out recommendations
that might stimulate industrial modernization and tries to make sense of
Russias abiding addiction to oil. Although diplomatically worded, the EBRDs 88 page
Diversifying Russia report published on Friday will make uncomfortable weekend reading for Vladimir
Putins administration. Despite a series of high profile government initiatives to stimulate economic
Russia is more hooked on oil today than at any time over

the last 15 years. As the report says: Oil and gas now account for almost 70 per
cent of total goods exports and the structure of exports has narrowed
somewhat since the mid-1990s. Oil and gas revenues also contribute about half of
the federal budget. The non-oil fiscal deficit has averaged more than 11 per cent of GDP since 2009,
while the oil price consistent with a balanced budget is now in the region of $115 a barrel and rising. The
economy also remains highly energy-intensive , not least because of the persistent
under-pricing of energy seen until recently. Delving into the problem, the EBRD report says Russias
poor business environment, failures in the education system and a lack of
skilled managers exacerbated by restrictive immigration policies have combined to
modernization,
stymy government efforts to modernise and kick its addiction to oil. Russia is not
the only oil-rich country facing such challenges. Indeed, possession of large oil and gas reserves is widely
Petro-economies are
inherently vulnerable to boom bust cycles driven by swings in world
oil prices. Excessive reliance on natural resources tends to corrode economic
and political institutions and undermine the competitiveness of other sectors
weakening productivity growth. Although the EBRD gives the Russian government
credit for admitting the scale of the problem, the report warns that top down
efforts to modernise are not the solution . A series of government initiatives such as the
regarded as at best a mixed blessing and at worst a curse.
creation in 2006 of Rusnano, the state nanotechnology company and, more recently, the Skolkovo
innovation hub outside Moscow, have absorbed billions of dollars of public funds. But efforts might have
been better directed into fostering education and skills and encouraging private investment in new
industries. Russia invests only 1 per cent of its GDP in research and development, lagging way behind
developed countries. Multinationals, the biggest contributors to R&D in developed countries, are under
represented in Russia largely because of the difficulty in finding qualified managers locally a problem
compounded by restrictive immigration policies that limit the hiring of highly-skilled foreign personnel. The
report urges Russia to improve its business climate by reducing red tape and cracking down on
Effective reform in this area is difficult, as it involves the

state reforming itself akin to a man pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. This is hard to
bureaucratic rent seeking:
achieve in any country, but is particularly difficult as research shows in countries with significant
revenues from natural resources. Erik Berglof, chief economist at the EBRD, said a fall in oil prices could
have beneficial side effects in Russia, stimulating the government to crank up the economic diversification
drive. Russia will battle very strong head winds as long as oil prices are high ,
he told a breakfast meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow on Friday. Its
very frustrating. I have been involved in these discussions [about economic diversification] for two
A fall in oil prices would be an incentive. In this light

perhaps its not a bad thing that Russia is at risk of running out of
oil. Unless huge new economically recoverable reserves are discovered, production could sink into a
terminal decline after 2032. An external shock, such as a sudden collapse in oil
prices, might happen before that, plunging the Russian economy
into recession, a western businessmen at the AmCham breakfast pointed out. Or Russian people,
decades
frustrated by widespread corruption and limited opportunities, could take to the streets. Such horror
scenarios could be avoided if the Russian government took its medicine and acted on the EBRD report.
Solvency
Timeframe
Cant solve impacts at least five years until investment
Scripps Institution of Ocean Technology 14 (Scripps Institution
of Ocean Technology, University of California at San Diego, April 8, 2014,
Scripps, UCSD algae biofuel programs rated top in US by DOE, Biodiesel
Magazine, http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/46097/scripps-ucsdalgae-biofuel-programs-rated-top-in-us-by-doe)//CS
CAB-Comm was formed by UCSD and Scripps scientists who were originally part of an organization called
the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB) which has now evolved into the California Center
for Algae Biotechnology (Cal-CAB). This year, Cal-CAB researchers led by Cameron Coates, a Ph.D. student
in the Gerwick group at Scripps, published another major finding in the field of algae biotechnology. Coates
studies cyanobacteria, one of the few organisms known to produce hydrocarbons directly. Most other algae
produce lipids, which can then be converted to fuel, but cyanobacteria directly produce hydrocarbons of
such high density that they can be used as jet fuel. Coates established that all cyanobacteria produce
hydrocarbons but only in small amounts and some cyanobacteria produce hydrocarbons through a
completely unique pathway. These insights have opened the door for new research into maximizing their
fuel production potential as well as identifying pathway targets that could be used to produce sustainable
plastics and chemicals. As a grad student at Scripps, Ive been really pleased with the opportunity to work
with high caliber scientists and students; the resources and opportunities for intellectual growth have been
excellent, Coates said, and in the CAB-Comm program theres a real spirit of collaborative research and
sharing of resources. The algae biofuel industry has grown significantly since CAB-Comm was founded in
2008 (it was then called the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, SD-CAB), expanding from scientific
to commercial interests. Its development is spurred in part by a desire to wean American dependence on
foreign oil, but another motivation to develop algae biofuel is that it has the potential to cut carbon dioxide
emissions in half, because the algae sequester carbon as they grow and partially offset the carbon
Cost is the main factor holding algae biofuel

back, as its currently two to three times more expensive than fossil fuels,
even when produced by the largest and most efficient operations . There are
some indications that algae biofuel will be cost-competitive with fossil fuels
within five years, but investment in large-scale production isnt likely
to happen until then. The recent boom in Americas natural gas production
enabled by fracking could further dampen investor interest and slow the
development of algae biofuels.
released when the biofuel is burned.
Cant Cultivate
Lipid-rich algae is difficult to cultivate
Svoboda 10 (Elizabeth Svoboda, Yale University, July 7, 2010, Debunking 10 Energy Myths: Fuel
from Algae Is Cheap, http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/debunking-myths-about-nuclearfuel-coal-wind-solar-4)//CS
It grows in ponds. It grows in streambeds. It even grows in your sink if you forget to
scrub it. Algae is so omnipresent that startups like Solix and Aurora Biofuels
make it easy to envision the microscopic green organisms meeting all the
transportation needs of the planet at pennies a gallon for eternity. But indepth experimentation suggests that algae-fuel supremacy isn't going to
come easy. The strains of algae that work best for biodiesel are
specialized lipid-producers that won't thrive in just any
circumstances. Algae-fuel researchers have tried growing the organisms in
open ponds for decades, but the water often becomes contaminated with
native algae, which quickly outcompete lipid-rich strains. Closed bioreactors
come with their own set of issues. "Even relatively inexpensive ones are
going to add dramatically to capital costs ," says biochemical engineer John
Sheehan, who worked on a stalled National Renewable Energy Laboratory algae-fuel
project. Plus, as bioreactors scale up, decreased surface-area-to-volume ratios
often make it difficult for all the algae to get the solar energy they need,
making them subpar for fuel production. Algae fuel may eventually take off,
but it's going to require a lot of testing, technical tweaking and
expensive infrastructure to get there.
Hurts Environment
Algae Biofuels are Harmful to Environment
Howell 10
(Katie Howell, freelance writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. Her work has
appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Scientific American,National Geographic
Traveler, Kiplingers Personal Finance, Greenwire, Nationalgeographic.com and
Knitty.com. Washington and Lee University and a masters degree in geology from
Louisiana State University. June 22, 2010, Is Algae Worse than Corn for
Biofuels? Online:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algae-biofuel-growthenvironmental-impact/)
Growing algae for use in biofuels has a greater environmental impact than
sources such as corn, switch grass and canola, researchers found in the first
life-cycle assessment of algae growth. Interest in algae-based biofuels has blossomed
in the past year, sparking major investments fromExxon Mobil Corp. and Dow
Chemical Co., and it has gained steam on Capitol Hill, as well. But the nascent
industry has major environmental hurdles to overcome before ramping up
production, according to research published this week in Environmental
Science and Technology. "What we found was sort of surprising," said Andres
Clarens, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Virginia
and lead author of the paper. "We started doing this with as much optimism as
everybody else." Algae production consumes more energy, has higher
greenhouse gas emissions and uses more water than other biofuel sources,
like corn, switch grass and canola, Clarens and his colleagues found by using a
statistical model to compare growth data of algae with conventional crops."From a
life-cycle standpoint, algae are not nearly as desirable as you would think
they are," Clarens said. "And that was surprising to us."The culprit, the
researchers say, is fertilizer. Growing algae in open ponds is akin to producing them
in a shallow swimming pool, Clarens said, so all of the nutrients -- nitrogen and
phosphorus -- needed to keep them alive and boost their production come from
outside sources. And that fertilizer has an environmental impact because it's often
made from petroleum feedstocks, Clarens said. "If you grow corn, you rotate the field
with soybeans so you get nitrogen fixation," Clarens said. "You still have to fertilize a
lot, but if you're growing algae ... all that fertilizer has to come from you, and the
fertilizing demands are much higher." Carbon dioxide also contributes to algae's
environmental footprint. Algae use sunlight and water to convert carbon
dioxide into materials that can be easily converted into fuel. But that CO2
has to come from somewhere, Clarens said. And until it's economical to pull
it out of coal-fired power plant smokestacks or other industrial sources, it

comes from petroleum-based sources, as well. Algae production has some
other negative environmental impacts, Clarens said. For one, to convert
algae into fuel, producers centrifuge the algae-laden water to separate the
two, and that takes "a fair amount of energy," Clarens said. But Clarens and
his colleagues aren't writing off algae as a potential future energy source
"We wanted to point to areas where algae performs poorly so we'll have a
bit of a road map if we do decide to go down the algae road," Clarens said.
The algae industry has called for life-cycle assessments and is working on its own
complete analysis, Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algal Biomass
Organization, said in an e-mailed statement. She said her organization had not had
time to fully review the paper and could not comment on it specifically. "
Algae biofuels are not a green alternative land and

energy consumption
Ravilious 12 (Kate Ravilious, award-winning independent science journalist, Algal biofuels beat
diesel on greenhouse emissions, Environmental Research Web, March 26, 2012,
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/49118)//CS
Petrol, diesel and kerosene are the ultimate high-density liquid fuels. Finding a green alternative that is
capable of getting an airbus across the Atlantic, or achieving "50 miles to the gallon" in your car, is no easy
Biofuels are one of the best solutions to date but a large-scale switch to
biofuels would require billions of acres of land to grow the relevant grasses,
grains and trees, putting pressure on global food production, or eating into
pristine tropical rainforest. Algal biofuels have been touted as an attractive alternative because
task.
they have the potential to produce large yields per acre compared to conventional biofuel crops. As yet
algal biofuels only exist in concept, but many research groups are investigating a viable
production process. Current prototype methods of algal biofuel production
consume large amounts of energy: lots of pumping and mixing is required
to keep the algae afloat. Add to that the methane and nitrogen oxides that
the process might produce and suddenly it isn't clear that algal biofuels will
be such a green alternative after all.
Multiple Issues
Algae biofuel has multiple issues
Siegel 12 (RP Siegel, President of Rain Mountain LLC and the Founder and
Executive Director of Cool Rochester, a non-profit agency devoted to reducing
the carbon footprint of Rochester, NY, April 12, 2012, Algae-based Biofuel:
Pros And Cons, Triple Pundit, http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/04/algaebased-biofuel-pros-cons/)//CS
Need to be grown under controlled temperature conditions, Requires a
considerable amount of land and water, Cold flow issues with algal biofuel ,
Some researchers using genetic engineering to develop optimal algae strains , Requires
phosphorus as a fertilizer which is becoming scarce, Fertilizer production is
carbon dependent, Relatively high upfront capital costs, Not clear yet what
the ultimate cost per gallon will be. Presently too high. In summary, algae-based biofuel is a promising energy source that is in the latter stages of development . A number of issues
related to the ultimate cost of the product need to be resolved , but
there is a good deal of research money going into this as production is beginning to scale up. Land issues
can be addressed using marginal land. Water can be recycled in reactors. Cold flow issues might result in
the fuels being blended with other fuels or possibly additives. Fertilizer issues could be addressed using
waste streams, thereby recycling the critical nutrients. Time will tell, though I believe this is an important
technology to watch.
Empirically Denied
Biofuel production empirically denied
Pyle 12 (Thomas J. Pyle, President of the Institute for Energy Research, July
19, 2012, The Navy's Use of Biofuels is Inefficient and Costly, US News,
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/on-energy/2012/07/19/the-navys-useof-biofuels-is-inefficient-and-costly)//CS
This week, the Navy embarked on a costly and pointless exerciseusing "advanced" biofuels that cost $26
per galon in some naval exercises. At a time when the federal budget and military budgets are tight, Navy
Secretary Ray Mabus claims that it is important to spend millions of dollars on an exotic biofuel to
Spending $26 a gallon on exotic biofuel

does not "enhance natural security" as it reduces our security by wasting
taxpayer's dollars on yet another renewable boondoggle and diverts funds
from necessary readiness. Nonetheless, Mabus has ordered naval exercises in the Pacific using
"enhance our national security." That is ridiculous.
"advanced" biofuel. The Navy will be running a fleet of warships, including the accompanying jet planes
and helicopters, on a 50-50 mixture of conventional fuel and biofuel. The fuel for this exercise cost the
Navy around $12 million, but that is just a small portion of what the Obama administration has spent and
this administration
has spent $1 billion to research and develop these fuels partly by investing in
bio-refinery projects. In fact, these biofuel projects are part of a larger $510
million joint agency initiative between the Agriculture, Energy, and Navy
Departments to invest in so-called drop-in commercial biofuels. The Navy has a
will spend on the development of biofuels technology. Over the past three years,
contract with Dynamic Fuels LLC and Solazyme, Inc. who will be providing fuel made from chicken fat and
The Navy claims that buying fuel from chicken fat and algae
protects national security by reduce our dependence on the volatile global oil
market. Their argument might make a modicum of sense if oil prices were
$1,000 a barrel, but oil "only" costs $100 a barrel. (A barrel of oil is 42 gallons
and this biofuel is $26 a gallon, therefore $26 a gallons x 42 gallons = $1,092
a barrel.) Even with the volatility in the oil market, oil is nowhere near the $1,000 a barrel of these
algae oil, respectively.
exotic biofuels. Instead, Brent Crude Oil is hovering around $100 and West Texas Intermediate is $86 a
barrel. There is little reason to believe that these biofuels will cost near what oil costs in any foreseeable
biofuel is old technology. Some of the first automobiles, as in

the ones made in the 1800s, ran on ethanol and other biofuels and during
World War I, a commercial cellulosic ethanol plant was operating in the United
States. But biofuel production declined over time not because it was
new, but because it was inefficient, expensive, and ultimately
unsustainable. It is no surprise that it appears that there might be more behind this biofuel
initiative than national security. A federal biofuel advisory committee that serves
multiple government agencies in the development of biofuels is comprised of
numerous individuals who work in the green energy industries themselves,
future. That's because
including members of the aforementioned Solazyme Inc. Harrison Dillon, the cofounder and president of
Solazyme Inc., and Robert Ames, the vice president of fuels and commercialization of Solazyme Inc., both
serve on the biofuel advisory committee. This is an inexcusable example of government cronyism and
raises serious doubt about the legitimacy of this initiative. On top of this, Mabus has not been able to
produce any type of outline that explains the ultimate costs and the time for such a project. This has led to
bills in both the House and Senate currently limiting this effort by restricting the purchase of alternative
fuels if they cost more than conventional oil, except for in research and development projects such as this
one. Despite reality, the Navy claims that by 2016 it will have a fully functioning "Great Green Fleet," and
At $26 a gallon, this

biofuel costs around six times more than conventional fuel . Even after
by 2020 to have half of all naval travel running on these biofuels.
being mixed with conventional fuel the price is still around $15 a gallon. The Navy has spent $12 million for
450,000 gallons of this biofuel just for the upcoming exhibition. That same $12 million could have
purchased over three million gallons of conventional fuel. Despite these numbers, Mabus has claimed, "I
think we cannot afford not to do this." Mabus' statement is utterly ridiculous and reflects an absolute lack
People have been working

on biofuel for over 125 years and they are still incredibly expensive .
The United States has large oil resourcesenough for 200 years in fact at
prices well below $26 a gallon. Why Mabus would rather the federal
government go further in debt by paying for expensive fuels instead of using
Americans resources is not at all clear. Because the Navy is showing a disregard for
of understanding of America, and the world's, energy realities.
taxpayer dollars or national security, the Institute for Energy Research this week sent letters to Congress
calling for an "immediate, exhausting, and unyielding investigation" into this blatant abuse. We asked
them to review the Navy's partnerships with the companies involved, as these deals have obviously been
made due to factors other than national security and energy independence. We also wrote a letter to
Mabus asking what the Navy has against domestic oil production. The United States has the largest oil,
coal, and natural gas resources in the world. Much of these resources are on federal lands, but instead of
promoting access to this fuel, Mabus is spending $26 a gallon on exotic biofuel. We asked Mabus to
consider the facts about America's energy situation, cease publication of specious claims about American
With the
uncertainty in the Middle East it is possible that oil prices could rise again , but
even if the Straits of Hormuz were closed, it is unlikely that the price of oil would reach
the dizzying costs of Mabus's $26 a gallon biofuel boondoggle. For that to
happen, oil would need to cost well in excess of $1,000 a barrel. There is just
no rational explanation of how spending on biofuel this expensive will actually
improve national security. If Mabus were truly serious about increasing national security, he
energy resources, and to return to the Navy's core mission of protecting national security.
should look at America and Canada's plentiful energy resources.
Counter Plan
1NC CP
The United States Federal Government should fund the
implementation of Algae Biofuel production using algae
grown on non-arable land.
Methods to remove algae from freshwater are more
efficient than those that remove algae from saltwater
Xuan 09 (Dinh Trinh Thanh, Department of Environmental Engineering,
National University of Singapore. 2009. Harvesting marine algae for biodiesel
feedstock. http://www.nus.edu.sg/nurop/2009/FoE/U067436X.PDF) ap
The compromise between harvesting efficiency and cost is a critical problem
in algal biodiesel production. Evidently, poor harvesting process not only is a
waste of manufacturing material, but also poses a threat to the environment
as high algal concentration in effluent may cause eutrophication. However,
due to the small size of micro-algae (2-30m) and its dilute concentration in
race-way ponds (approximately 0.5-1.0g dry biomass per liter), effective
harvesting methods can be very costly. The process is estimated to
contribute up to 20-30% of the total cost, and thus, harvesting optimization
has been emphasized as one of the key factors determining the feasibility of
algal biodiesel development in the future (Sheehan et al, 1988). There are a
number of possible methods for harvesting algae, including centrifugation,
filtration, electro-flocculation and coagulation. Centrifugation seems to be the
most efficient yet is too costly and therefore not suitable for mass biomass
production. Similarly, filtration is not a practical solution because of the
formation of a filter-cake, which substantially increases head loss and
requires frequent maintenance. Electro-flocculation, on the other hand,
has been proven to effectively remove up to 95% of algae in fresh
water (Poleman et al, 1997). Nevertheless, the efficiency in harvesting
marine algae has not been tested. One reason is the high normality of
seawater, which would compete for positive charges from an
electrode source, thus increase the current level required to
destabilize algae to form flocs. Furthermore, there is a possibility of cell
oxidation that leads to undesirable changes in lipid profile and final product
quality.
The Department of Energy has established a system to

make oil out of Algae; which would use the refinery
systems already in place with petroleum creating biofuel
sold at two dollars a gallon. This Algae needs to be grown
in a contained environment to prevent contamination and
ensure a profitable yieldrendering the ocean farming
system useless.
Nguyen 13 (Tuan, a Silicon Valley-based journalist specializing in
technology, health, design and innovation. His work has appeared in
ABCNews.com, NBCNews.com, CBS' SmartPlanet and LiveScience. December
31, 2013. Scientists Turn Algae Into Crude Oil In Less Than An Hour
www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientists-turn-algae-into-crude-oil-inless-than-an-hour-180948282/) ap
Out of all the clean energy options in development, it is algae-based biofuel
that most closely resembles the composition of the crude oil that gets
pumped out from beneath the sea bed. Much of what we know as petroleum
was, after all, formed from these very microorganisms, through a natural
heat-facilitated conversion that played out over the course of millions of
years. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, have discovered a
way to not only replicate, but speed up this "cooking" process to the point
where a small mixture of algae and water can be turned into a kind of crude
oil in less than an hour. Besides being readily able to be refined into burnable
gases like jet fuel, gasoline or diesel, the proprietary technology also
generates, as a byproduct, chemical elements and minerals that can be used
to produce electricity, natural gas and even fertilizer to, perhaps, grow even
more algae. It could also help usher in algae as a viable alternative; an
analysis has shown that implementing this technique on a wider scale may
allow companies to sell biofuel commercially for as low as two dollars a
gallon. "When it comes down to it, Americans aren't like Europeans who
tend to care more about reducing their carbon footprint," says lead
investigator Douglas C. Elliott, who's researched alternative fuels for 40
years. "The driving force for adopting any kind of fuel is ultimately whether
it's as cheap as the gasoline we're using now." Scientists have long been
intrigued by the laundry list of inherent advantages algae boasts over other
energy sources. The U.S. Department of Energy, for instance, estimates that
scaling up algae fuel production to meet the country's day-to-day oil
consumption would take up about 15,000 square miles of land, roughly the
size of a small state like Maryland. In comparison, replacing just the supply of
diesel produced with bio-diesel from soybeans would require setting aside
half of the nation's land mass. Besides the potential for much higher yields,
algae fuel is still cleaner than petroleum, as the marine plants devour carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere. Agriculturally, algae flourishes in a wide range
of habitats, from ocean territories to wastewater environment. It isn't
hazardous like nuclear fuel, and it is biodegradable, unlike solar panels and
other mechanical interventions. It also doesn't compete with food supplies
and, again, is similar enough to petrol that it can be refined just the
same using existing facilities. Ethanol from corn needs to be blended
with gas and modified vegetable oil for use with diesel," says Elliott. "But
what we're making here in converting algae is more of a direct route that
doesn't need special handling or blending." Or, as algae researcher Juergen
Polle of Brooklyn College puts it: "We cannot fly planes with ethanol. We need
oil," he tells CBS News. But while the infrastructure for corn-based ethanol
production has expanded to the extent that most cars on the road run on
gasoline blends comprised of 10 percent biofuel, the ongoing development of
algae fuel has progressed ever-so glacially since the initial spark of interest in
the 1980s. Industry experts attribute this languishing to the lack of a feasible
method for producing algae fuel running as high as 10 dollars a gallon,
according to a report in the New York Times. However, the promise of oil from
algae was tantalizing enough that ExxonMobil, in 2009, enlisted the expertise
of world renowned bioengineer Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics lab to
fabricate a genetic strain of lipid-rich algae, as a means to offset the expense
of cultivating and processing the substance into a commercially attractive
resource. Yet, despite investing $600 million into a considerably ambitious
endeavor, the project was beset with "technical limitations," forcing the
company to concede earlier this year that algae fuel is probably further
than 25 years away from becoming mainstream. The hydrothermal
liquefaction system that Elliott's team developed isn't anything new. In fact,
scientists tinkered with the technology amid an energy crisis during the
1970s as a way to gasify various forms of biomass like wood, eventually
abandoning it a decade later as the price of gasoline returned to more
reasonable levels. PNNL's lab-built version is, however, "relatively newer,"
and designed simply to demonstrate how replacing cost-intensive practices
like drying the algae before mixing in chemicals with a streamlined approach
makes the entire process much more cost-effective across all phases. Elliott
explains, for example, that the bulk of the expenditures are spent on raising
algae, which is either grown in whats called an open-pond system, similar to
natural environments, or in well-controlled conditions found in closed-loop
systems. The open-pond system isn't too expensive to run, but it tends to
yield more contaminated and unusable crops while artificial settings, where
algae is farmed inside clear closed containers and fed sugar, are pricey to
maintain. "People have this slightly inaccurate idea that you can grow
algae anywhere just because they'll find it growing in places like
their swimming pool, but harvesting fuel-grade algae on a massive
scale is actually very challenging," Elliott says. The beauty of our
system is you can put in just about any kind of algae into it, even mixed
strains. You can grow as much as you can, any strain, even lower lipid types
and we can turn it into crude." Forbes energy reporter Christopher Helman
has a good description of how this particular hydrothermal liquefaction
technique works: "You start with a source of algae mixed up with water. The
ideal solution is 20% algae by weight. Then you send it, continuously, down a
long tube that holds the algae at 660 degrees Fahrenheit and 3,000 psi for 30
minutes while stirring it. The time in this pressure cooker breaks down the
algae (or other feedstock) and reforms it into oil. Given 100 pounds of algae
feedstock, the system will yield 53 pounds of 'bio-oil' according to the PNNL
studies. The oil is chemically very similar to light, sweet crude, with a
complex mixture of light and heavy compounds, aromatics, phenolics,
heterocyclics and alkanes in the C15 to C22 range." Operating what's
essentially an extreme pressure cooker at such a constant high temperature
and stress does require a fair amount of power, though Elliott points out that
they've built their system with heat recovery features to maximize the heat
by cycling it back into the process, which should result in a significant net
energy gain overall. As a bonus, the ensuing chemical reaction leaves behind
a litany of compounds, such as hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide, which
can be used to form natural gas, while leftover minerals like nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium work well as fertilizer. "It's a way of mimicking
what happens naturally over an unfathomable length of time," he adds.
"We're just doing it much, much faster." Elliott's team has licensed the
technology to the Utah-based startup Genifuel Corporation, which hopes to
build upon the research and eventually implement it in a larger
commercialized framework. He suggests that the technology would need to
be scaled to convert roughly 608 metric tons of dry algae to crude per day to
be financially sustainable. "It's a formidable challenge, to make a biofuel
that is cost-competitive with established petroleum-based fuels," Genifuel
president James Oyler said in a statement. "This is a huge step in the right
direction."
Non-Arable land in the United States could supply more

than 30 percent of the current fuel consumption.
Utah State University 6/5 (Researchers included Jeff Moodymasters
in mechanical engineering, Jason Quinnan assistant professor in USUs
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Chris McGinty
associate director of USUs Remote Sensing/Geographic Information Systems.
USU researchers: Algae biofuel can help meet energy demand. June 05, 2014
http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/10491/usu-researchers-algae-biofuelcan-help-meet-energy-demand) ap
Microalgae-based biofuel not only has the potential to quench a sizable chunk
of the worlds energy demands, say Utah State University researchers, its a
potential game-changer. Thats because microalgae produces much higher
yields of fuel-producing biomass than other sources of alternative fuels and it
doesnt compete with food crops, says Jeff Moody, who completed a
masters degree in mechanical engineering from USU in May. With USU
faculty mentors Chris McGinty and Jason Quinn, Moody published findings
from an unprecedented worldwide microalgae productivity assessment in the
May 26, online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. The teams research was supported by the U.S. Department of
Energy. Despite its promise as a biofuel source, the USU investigators
questioned whether pond scum could be a silver bullet-solution to

challenges posed by fossil fuel dependence. Our aim wasnt to debunk
existing literature, but to produce a more exhaustive, accurate and realistic
assessment of the current global yield of microalgae biomass, Moody says.
With advisor Quinn, assistant professor in USUs Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering, Moody began building simulations and
generating data. As the project progressed, the engineers realized they
needed expertise outside their discipline. They recruited McGinty, associate
director of USUs Remote Sensing/Geographic Information Systems
Laboratory in the Department of Wildland Resources, for help in developing
the sophisticated spatial interpolations and resource modeling needed to
develop their large-scale model. Visual representations of physical and
biophysical processes are very powerful tools, McGinty says. Adding the
geospatial interpolation component brought the data into focus. Using
hourly meteorological data from 4,388 global locations, the team determined
the current global productivity potential of microalgae. Our results were
much more conservative than those found in the current literature, Quinn
says. Even so, the numbers are impressive. Algae, he says, yields about
2,500 gallons of biofuel per acre per year in promising locations. In
contrast, soybeans yield approximately 63 gallons; corn about 435 gallons.
In addition, soybeans and corn require arable land that detracts from food
production, Quinn says. Microalgae can be produced in non-arable
areas unsuitable for agriculture. The USU researchers estimate
untillable land in Brazil, Canada, China and the United States could be
used to produce enough algal biofuel to supplement more than 30
percent of those countries fuel consumption. Thats an impressive
percentage from renewable energy, says Moody, who soon begins a new
position as systems engineer for New Mexicos Sandia National Labs. Our
findings will help to justify the investment in technology development and
infrastructure to make algal biofuel a viable fuel source.
Vermont has successfully established technology to

create biofuels from cow manure on farms.
HIRSCHFELD 7/9/14(Petera leading Vermont journalist who has
covered the Statehouse since 2009, most recently as bureau chief for the
Rutland Herald and Times Argus. Manure-Fed Biofuels Might Make For New
Crop At Dairy Farms. 7/9/14 http://digital.vpr.net/post/manure-fed-biofuelsmight-make-new-crop-dairy-farms)ap
But its also a live demonstration of government-funded research aimed at
finding out whether manure and runoff from dairy farms in Vermont could be
converted into fuel oil for everything from jet engines to basement boilers.
And according to officials at the government agency that funded the
feasibility study, the experiment was a resounding success. "We've
always known that Vermont farms and Vermont dairy farms make some of the
best milk in the world. But did any of us ever know that these same cows can
produce fuel oil?" - Ted Brady, Vermont director for rural development at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The $51,000 USDA grant funded a yearlong

study overseen by the Burlington-based biofuel company GSR Solutions. Dr.
Anju Dahiya is the president of the company, and the brains behind the
operation. At an event announcing the studys success, Dahiya tried to
explain the complex process to laypeople. Our effort has been to use a
closed loop system that can utilize the waste coming out of the farms, she
said. As Dahiya explains it, the waste is then fed to algae, which, under
certain conditions, will then produce oil. The process also yields by-products
that can be converted into fertilizer and animal feed. Theres nothing new
about algae biofuel, which is being produced in far larger quantities at test
facilities around the globe. But officials said Dahiyas enterprise is the first to
produce oil by using farm waste as food for the oil-producing algae. This is
an important first step, says Todd Campbell, energy advisor to the U.S.
secretary of agriculture. And thats what were interested in at USDA, is
proving out the concept, taking small steps forward to optimizing systems.
The hardest work for Dahiya and the industries that would benefit from her
work is still ahead. And theyll be looking for more government help as they
try to launch a more than $1 million project at Nordic Farms to see whether
the process works at a larger scale. Matt Cota, executive director of the
Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, said the work being done at Nordic Farms
could be key to his trade organizations goal of getting 100 percent of its
product biofuels by 2050.
Project Omega NB
U.S Commercial and Recreational Saltwater fishing
created more than 199 billion in revenue.
NOAA 13 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNOAA report
finds commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated $199 billion in
2011. March 7, 2013
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mediacenter/2013/03/07_noaa_report_finds_comm
ercial_and_recreational.html)ap
U.S. commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated more than $199
billion in sales and supported 1.7 million jobs in the nations economy in
2011, according to a new economic report released by NOAAs Fisheries
Service. The report, Fisheries Economics of the United States 2011, is
published annually on a two-year lag to allow data collection, analysis, and
peer review. It provides economic statistics on U.S. commercial and
recreational fisheries and marine-related businesses for each coastal state
and the nation. Key to the report are the economic effects--jobs, sales,
income, and value added to Gross National Product--of the commercial and
recreational fishing industries. Economic impact measures how sales in
each sector ripple throughout the state and national economy as each dollar
spent generates additional sales by other firms and consumers. The seafood
industryharvesters, seafood processors and dealers, seafood wholesalers
and retailersgenerated $129 billion in sales impacts, $37 billion in income
impacts and supported 1.2 million jobs in 2011, the most recent year
included in the report. Recreational fishing generated $70 billion in sales
impacts, $20 billion in income impacts, and supported 455,000 jobs in 2011.
Compared to 2010, the numbers are up for all of these impacts except
commercial seafood sales.
OMEGA would displace commercial and recreational

saltwater fishers
Ziolkowska and Simon 14 (Jadwiga R.-- Post-PhD degree
(Habilitation), Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2013,
PhD, Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, MSc,
Economics, University of Rzeszow, Poland, 2004, Leo SimonAdjunct
Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California,
Berkeley. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Volume 29, January
2014, Pages 847853)ap
The objective of the project is to design, test and analyze PBRs to model a
full-scale algae farm deployment and to arrive at a 35% system design that
would function in actual marine environments. OMEGA addresses many
relevant problems and clearly offers a competitive solution as compared to
land-based algae cultivation systems in terms of economics, cooling, mixing,
energy, water, and land use. However, it also has its limitations and
unsolved problem regarding species control, harvesting, dewatering.

It also faces several challenges associated with its offshore location
(engineering, materials, permits) and the impact on marine
ecosystem coastal area fishing, boating and ship traffic. A possible
cost reduction of this system could be achieved by incorporating wind and
solar facilities to produce other forms of energy in addition to algae-based
fuels (compare: [39]).
In order to use the coastthey would have to prove that

photobioreactors hold a comparatively better value
which they dont
Jin et al. 13 (Di, Ph.D., Economics-Marine Resources, University of Rhode
Island, 1991, Porter Hoagland Ph.D., Marine Policy, University of Delaware,
January 2000, Brooke WikgrenAssociate Scientist/GIS Specialist B.S.
University of Wisconsin Green Bay, 2008, Environmental Policy and Planning
M. En., Miami University, 2010, Environmental Sciences Geographic
Information Sciences Certificate, Miami University, 2010 An empirical analysis
of the economic value of ocean space associated with commercial fishing
Marine Policy Volume 42, November 2013, Pages 7484) ap
An economic tradeoff analysis for ocean use decisions would involve
comparing resource rents (modeled here as net revenues or quasi-rents)
arising from alternative use options. For example, say that a specific offshore
area currently is used for commercial fishing, and a wind farm has been
proposed for the same area. A tradeoff analysis would involve comparing
rents from the two uses, and it may make economic sense to allow the
development of the wind farm only if the rents from energy production are
greater than those from commercial fishing. Thus, to facilitate the
implementation of MSP, a careful assessment of the economic values of
existing and proposed ocean uses and their spatial distributions is
required.
Photobioreactors like the ones used in NASAs OMEGA

project decrease the economic viability of algae biofuel
Schueneman 08 (Thomasfreelance Environmental Writer and
Journalist. Dr. Sayre is one of the nations leading researchers in plant biology
and genetics. His past research includes work with BioCassava Plus, a project
funded with grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at
alleviating hunger and malnutrition in third world countries. Biofuels from
Algae Dr. Richard Sayre Separates the Promise from the Hype. October
22nd, 2008. http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/10/biofuels-from-algae-drrichard-sayre-separates-the-promise-from-the-hype/) ap
There isnt much else going on with algae than simply harvesting sunlight
and carbon to grow, to which almost all of the organisms energy is devoted.
Through genetic engineering, algae strains can be developed that are even
more energy efficient and adaptable to local growing conditions. Some are
engineered specifically to gobble-up stack gases as we wrote of here in a
previous post. Current targets for cost efficiency are now at $45 a barrel,
well below that of oil, even with its current slide below $70 a barrel. But costs
are still one of the challenges to realizing the full potential of algae-based
biofuel. Dr. Sayre told me that at least half the cost of producing biofuels from
algae is in the process of harvesting and extracting oil. Harvesting algae in
photobioreactors, says Dr. Sayre, diminish the economic viability of algae,
and he sees the best methods for harvesting, not surprisingly, as the simplest
such as using simple paddle wheels in open ponds or devising a means of
milking the oil from algae, leaving the organism intact.
Outdoor Photobioreactors cannot used to develop algae

biofuels on a large scale
Singh and Sharma 12 (R.N. Singhobtained BSc (1962), MSc (1964)
and PhD, all from Banaras Hindu University. He joined the newly established
National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad in 1964. Currently
he is CSIR Emeritus Scientist at NGRI. Shaishav Sharma-- IMBIBE Junior
Research Fellow, School of Energy and Environmental Studies Development
of suitable photobioreactor for algae production A review. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews Volume 16, Issue 4, May 2012, Pages 2347
2353.) ap
The results showed the potential of semicontinuous cultivation of Cyanobium
species in closed tubular bioreactor, combining factors such as blend
concentration, renewal rate, and sodium bicarbonate concentration. Results
of hydrodynamic and mass transfer characterization of a flat-panel airlift
photobioreactor with high light path indicate that the hydrodynamic and
mass transfer characteristics of this photobioreactor are more efficient than
those reported elsewhere for tubular and other flat-plate photobioreactors,
which opens the possibility of using photobioreactors with higher light paths
than yet proposed [32]. Janssen et al. [9] studied light regime, photosynthetic
efficiency, scale-up, and future prospects of enclosed outdoor
photobioreactors. In this study it is shown that productivity of
photobioreactors is determined by the light regime inside the bioreactors. In
addition to light regime, oxygen accumulation and shear stress limit
productivity in certain designs. In short light-path systems, high efficiencies,
1020% based on photosynthetic active radiation (PAR 400700 nm), can be
reached at high biomass concentrations (>5 kg [dry weight] m3). It is
demonstrated, however, that these and other photobioreactor designs are
poorly scalable (maximal unit size 0.110 m3) and/or not applicable for
cultivation of monocultures.
Politics NB
Algal biofuels are unpopular empirics prove Obama gets
blamed
Lane 12 - Editor & publisher of Biofuels Digest, the most widely-read
biofuels daily and newsletter (Jim, Obama touts algal biofuels; $14M in new
R&D funding; $2.28 per gallon algal biofuels in sight?, Biofuels Digest, 2-2712, http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2012/02/27/obama-touts-algalbiofuels-14m-in-new-r-2-28-per-gallon-algal-biofuels-in-sight/)//KG
Newt Gingrich rebutted
Obamas algae program, deeming it weird. Gingrich has been mocking
the speech since Thursday night, when he stood in front of an Idaho crowd
suggesting that he should take a bottle of algae with him and go around and
we can have the Obama solution. The Republican candidate indicated
concerns that algae would end up the next Solyndra You know the President
had this magnificent solar power investment and took 500 something-million
of your money, (he) visited the plant because it was the plant of the future, Gingrich said. I suspect
Obamas algae program weird: Gingrich In Washington,
in the next few weeks well see him at some algae plant. Obama responded to critics, thus: You know
there are no quick fixes to this problem, and you know we cant just drill our way to lower gas prices. If
were going to take control of our energy future and avoid these gas price spikes down the line, then we
need a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy oil,
Ciaramella penned a
scathing critique of the US Governments algal biofuels, in an article focused on
Sapphire Energy and Obama Administration support, entitled SAPPHIRE IN THE ROUGH:
$100M in federal money; 36 jobs created, which highlighted Sapphire Energy lobbying
expense and drew attention to Democratic-leaning political donations by the
company and its executives.
gas, wind, solar, nuclear, biofuels, and more. Smearing the sector But CJ
Decrease in ocean space leads backlash and increased

reliance on imports
Haynes 7/3 (Reagan, writer specialized in banking and finance regarding
the marine industry, as well as EPA and environmental standards in boating.
Fisheries group opposes Obamas Pacific marine preserve. July 3rd, 2014
http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2014/07/video-fisheries-group-opposesobamas-pacific-marine-preserve/)ap
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council came out in
opposition of President Obamas announcement that he will create the
worlds largest marine preserve in a swath of the Pacific, closing the area to
fishing, energy exploration and other activities. The council, which is
responsible for managing Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the
Commonwealth of Northern Marian, says the measure will harm area
commercial and recreational fishing, businesses, create enforcement
and oversight problems, and create an environment thats ripe for illegal
fishing. There are a number of concerns about expanding the
monument,Bob Vanesse, a principal at Stove Boat, a public affairs firm that
represents the council, told Trade Only Today. Internationally, pirate fishing is
a huge issue. So the question is actually, how do we monitor this? If our

fishermen stay out of area, foreign fleets could go into areas without Coast
Guard controls. It sounds really nice for the president to do this expansion,
but nothing in oceans and fisheries is simple. Council chairman Arnold
Palacios said in a video press conference that when President George W. Bush
set the original monument in 2009, there were a lot of promisesabout the
benefits to the local communities. Today were five years, six years into the
establishment of this monument, and very little revenue that was promised
us has trickled down. Palacios says that local agencies and fisheries were
left to implement the federal governments plan. The Pew Charitable Trusts,
which was very instrumental in pushing for the establishment of these
monuments today, unfortunately and sadly, they are nowhere to be seen.
Now the local government, U.S. fisheries and regional council are left to lift
the weight on what types of policies and management we come up with.
The people of the commonwealth want to have their waters, Palacios said.
While we still struggle to address this issue, another announcement was
made by our president to expand additional areas to existing monuments,
and that is very disconcerting to us and the community,he said. The people
of American Samoa were hit hard with the move, and the people have felt
that action has been unilateral and without consulting those who rely on the
areas for their livelihood, he said. In addition, domestic fishermen act as the
eyes and earsto ensure foreign anglers dont illegally fish, said council
member and commercial fisherman Edwin Ebisui. Our pelagic fishing
program is an international model,Ebisui said. Any curtailment sets us
back and makes the region more dependent on imports.
Republicans dont support algae biofuel production

Cacciatore et al. 12 (Michael, Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Dietram A. Scheufele-- Ph.D., University of WisconsinMadison Mass Communications, Andrew R. Binder-- Ph.D. in Mass
Communications from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010, Bret R. Shaw-Ph.D. in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. Public attitudes toward biofuels POLITICS AND THE LIFE
SCIENCES SPRING/FALL 2012 VOL. 31, NO. 1-2j.) ap
Based on the motivated reasoning literature we hypothesized that the
influence of our media attention variables on biofuels attitudes would be
moderated by political party identification of our survey respondents. As our
results will show, we found evidence for this type of motivated reasoning
among our partisan groups across three out of our four regression models
tested. Specifically, Democrats appear inclined to think that biofuels will be
largely beneficial, and therefore, tend to interpret the information they
receive accordingly. This may be due in part to cues from party leaders,
including President Obama, who has been adamant about the role of biofuels
in "reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and creating jobs here at
home."[ 78]
Similarly, there is evidence of motivated reasoning among Republicans, who

appear predisposed to oppose biofuels. As Republican respondents integrate
and interpret new media information they tend to see fewer benefits relative
to risks from alternative fuel. Again, this is not entirely surprising given some
of the strong criticisms directed toward biofuels investment by Republican
leaders. For example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
has called investments in algae-based fuels a "pipe dream," while Senator
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has questioned the legitimacy of an energy
policy that seeks to increase domestic production of renewables, including
biofuels.[ 79] Next, we discuss the significant interactions.
Republicans hate algae biofuels

McAuliff 12 (Michael, Senior Congressional Reporter. Algae Biofuel
Proposal, Now Mocked By Republicans, Used To Have Their Support.
02/28/2012.www.huffingtonpost.com/ 2012/02/28/mitch-mcconnell-mockspre_n_1307862.html?view=screen) ap
Republicans mounted an all-out offensive against President Obama's energy
initiatives Tuesday, even mocking him for an idea many of them used to like:
using algae to create biofuel. "Over the past few weeks the American people
have begun to feel the painful effects of President Obama's energy policy,"
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared in a Senate floor speech
that ridiculed an energy plan Obama detailed last week, which included the
use of biofuel sources such as algae. "As millions of Americans groaned
at the rising cost of a gallon of gasoline, the president took algae as
a substitute for gas. Algae as a substitute for gas," McConnell said in
apparent disbelief. "I think the American people realize that a president
who's out there talking about algae -- algae! -- when we're having to choose
between whether to buy groceries or fill up the tank is the one who is out of
touch," McConnell added, arguing that the way to bring down gas prices is to
drill for more oil. "Americans get this issue," McConnell said. "They get that
we need to increase oil production right here at home, not simply rely on pipe
dreams -- pipe dreams -- like algae or by wasting billions of taxpayer dollars
on more failed clean energy projects." McConnell was followed by Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who suggested Obama's plans were no plans at
all. "What the president does favor is the Saudis increasing oil production,
and increased use of solar, wind and algae here at home," she said. "Does
that really substitute for an energy policy?"
NAVY CP
CounterPlanText: The Department of Defense should give
financial incentives for the development of Algae Biofuels
on non-arable land in the U.S.
DOD is the only actor that can fix status quo algae
biofuels problems funding, investments, and technology.
Woody 12 Todd Woody, Forbes writer for environmental issues and green technology and previous
writer for the New York Times, The U.S.s military great green gamble spurs biofuels startup,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/09/06/the-u-s-militarys-great-green-gamble-spurs-biofuelstartups/2/
Funded with $85 million from Bill Gates and other investors plus $104
million in government cash and loan guarantees the worlds only
commercial outdoor algal biorefinery went online this summer and will eventually
expand to 300 acres. The plan: extract 1.5 million gallons of green crude oil a year
from patented pond scum fed a diet of carbon dioxide and sunlight . Even before
San Diego-based Sapphire broke ground on the demonstration plant last year, the U.S. Navys green
energy warrior, Vice Admiral Philip Cullom, descended on the desert site to grill Sapphire execs on their
technology and its potential to fuel battleships and jet fighters. No question, the military has focused the
company and given us a great challenge to meet, says Sapphire executive Tim Zenk, standing on the
catwalk of a tank where a mechanical arm is harvesting thick green goo pumped in from the algae ponds.
Scum ponds in the desert? The very idea conjures memories of the federal governments decidedly mixed
record at promoting alt-energy projects: Solyndra, FutureGen, A123s electric-car batteries, synfuels in the
1980s, jojoba in the 1970s. Add to that all the many military boondoggles Star Wars missile defense, for
Sapphire has yet to earn a dime

from the Pentagon; the companys government funding comes from
the Departments of Energy and Agriculture. But since the days when the
startups scientists were still tinkering in the lab, theyve been sending their biofuel for
evaluation to the Defense Department, the deepest-pocketed client of them
all. Theres no other entity that has the capacity, the planning, the
commitment and the policy drivers to make technologies real and
create a market, says Zenk. The U.S. military, the nations single largest oil consumer, wants to
one born of best intentions and bloated budgets.
wean itself from petroleum, and is deploying its immense buying power and authority to commercialize
The Navy, which aims to get half

of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, has been buying biofuels in small
nascent technologies deemed to be in the national interest.
but expensive quantities, as in four times the cost of conventional fuels. Earlier this year the Pentagon
invoked the Defense Production Act to solicit proposals to build at least one integrated biorefinery with
$210 million in government funding. The biofuel buy has outraged some congressional Republicans, who
are attempting to bar the military from purchasing any fuel that costs more than petroleum. It will be years
before we know if the militarys biofuels bet is a multibillion-dollar folly or if the armed forces have
planted the seeds of another global industry, as it did with nuclear power, semiconductors and the
The Pentagons largesse is already spurring the

entrepreneurial zeal of startups like Sapphire that seek potential
riches in shaping green technology to meet military needs.
Internet. This much is certain:
Algae biofuels are key to military transition to renewables

solves foreign oil dependence.
Alexander et al. 12 (U.S. Navy moves ahead on biofuels despite congressional ire. David
Alexandera journalist for over 30 years, with experience in covering politics in the White House, Susan
Cornwellforeign policy correspondent and Roberta RamptonU.S. Energy and Environmental Policy
Correspondent, July 5, 2012 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/05/usa-navy-greenfleetidUSL2E8I57HE20120705) ap
The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a $420 million effort to build refineries to
make competitively priced biofuels, despite anger in Congress over the price the Navy paid
for alternative fuel to test a carrier strike group this month. The Pentagon plans provide $210
million in matching funds to help private firms build three refineries , each
able to produce at least 10 million gallons of biofuel a year for military jets or
ships, according to documents released this week. The military's spending on alternative fuels has
drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers, with Senator Jim Inhofe charging that President Barack
Obama's priorities are "completely skewed" and Representative Mike Conaway accusing Navy Secretary
U.S. dependence on foreign

oil is a strategic vulnerability that can only be addressed by reducing the
military's reliance on petroleum as the sole source of fuel to power its jets,
ships and tanks. The Navy initiative announced on Monday to help private firms build biofuel
Ray Mabus of "squandering precious dollars." But Mabus warns that
refineries "will enhance our national security," Mabus said in discussing the $30 million first phase of the
project. "It's
going to help support the creation and commercial viability of a

defense critical industry, and that's in domestic biofuels," he said. The announcement came as
the Navy is preparing to test a carrier strike force using alternative fuels on July
18 during the six-week, 22-nation Rim of the Pacific exercises, the largest
annual global naval maneuvers. The Navy purchased 450,000 gallons of
biofuels for $12 million, or nearly $27 a gallon for the exercises. The fuel was
then mixed with 450,000 gallons of petroleum to achieve a 50-50 blend that
cost about $15 a gallon. The Navy expected the jet and marine biofuels to last about a day during
the exercises.
Readiness NB
Naval readiness key to conflict prevention must be first
priority.
Katz 13 Doublas Katz, retired vice admiral, former commander of the Fifth Fleet, A Strong Navy,
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/275395-a-strong-navy
the nation seems to

be entering a new naval era that emphasizes the renewed importance of U.S.
sea power. Add to that the ever turbulent Middle East and Southeast Asian regions
demanding rapid response capabilities, it is now more imperative than ever
that civilian decision makers wisely plan for an adequate future size
and composition of the our Fleet. In times of conflict, our Navy is called upon to control
On the other hand, even with the increasingly austere fiscal climate unfolding,
the seas, deny their use to the enemy, and to protect and sustain power ashore, indispensible in successful
A strong Navy is a recognized United States commitment to

the world. Our Navy is unique among all others in that the Fleet is not garrisoned in U.S. home ports
military operations.
but is spread across the globe. In fact, we presently have approximately 110 of those 287 ships deployed
at any one time with every expectation that that number will rise as our naval commitments increase.
presence is
there to cooperate and defend partners and allies. It signals our
national intent, prevents and deters aggression, promotes regional
security and responds quickly to crises, to include humanitarian, no matter where
Such recognized presence is a key element of the U.S. global defense posture. That
they flare up. In a time of defense budget contractions, there is concern that while the number of ships
could be retained, the forces true ability to remain in readiness to perform its many missions will be
diminished through reduced funding for manning, operating and sustaining the force. There will be
tradeoffs, but it is vital that there be a balance between capacity, readiness and presence. Unlike the other
military services that have a greater ability to come home and reset following overseas military
the Navy is still expected to be deployed on the seas across the

world and provide a credible presence in key forward areas. There is no question that there is a
high demand for the naval forces from our political leaders and combat
commanders worldwide. The visible power of our Navy, steaming just over the horizon in areas of
obligations,
high tension matters has a significant impact on our opponents as well as our allies and friends. As a
result, we do not have the option of simply shrinking the Navy to pay for an ever-smaller number of ships,
Congress and
the administration must measure their desires against present
demands to reach an accepted level of readiness. This requires a strategic
aircraft and strike groups functioning at some difficult to define level of readiness.
balance between capabilities and realistic capacity within the Fleet. It was indeed fortuitous that the
question of naval power came up during the presidential Debates, even if horses and bayonets werent
quite in the right context. Still, the enduring value of naval power to the United States, regardless of the
budgetary landscape, has never been more critical. We cannot allow a reduction in our long-term ability to
build, sustain and operate our navel forces. The Department of Defense, Congress and the Administration
must prioritize carefully; there is too much at stake if they dont.
The Navy is key to deterring conflict

Allen, Conway, and Roughead 10 ( Thad W. Allen, Admiral U.S. Coast Guard
Commandant of the Coast Guard, James T. Conway, General U.S. Marine Corps Commandant of the
Manrine Corps, Gary Roughead, Admiral U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations, 2010, Naval Operations
Concept, Implementing Maritime Strategy, http://www.navy.mil/maritime/noc/NOC2010.pdf, LM)
Naval forces have historically provided nuclear and conventional means to

discourage aggression and dissuade adversaries from hostile action. The
ability of naval forces to rapidly deploy and indefinitely sustain credible
combat power worldwide provides national decision-makers with an

important tool to signal U.S. intent and resolve, deterring adversaries,
assuring allies, and contributing to homeland defense in depth .26 The Maritime
Strategy underscores that preventing wars is preferable to fighting wars. This emphasis on war
prevention calls for an expanded concept of deterrence to meet 21st-century
threats. Collectively, forward presence, maritime security, humanitarian
assistance and disaster response (HA/DR), sea control, and power projection
support and sustain an expanded form of deterrence . Going further, A
Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower (CS-21) provided the Naval
Service with a purposefully expanded view of deterrence. This new
framework includes conducting prevention activities intended to address the
conditions that lead to conflict, while discouraging aggressors through
cooperative action and partnership.
Military readiness solves war

Spencer 2k (Spencer, Jack-Roe institute director. "The Facts About Military Readiness." The
Heritage Foundation. N.p., 15 Sept. 2000. Web. 16 July 2014.
<http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2000/09/bg1394-the-facts-about-military-readiness>. XM)
U.S. military readiness cannot be gauged by comparing America's armed forces with other nations'
the capability of U.S. forces to support America's national

security requirements should be the measure of U.S. military readiness. Such a
militaries. Instead,
standard is necessary because America may confront threats from many different nations at once.
America's national security requirements dictate that the armed forces must
be prepared to defeat groups of adversaries in a given war. America, as the sole
remaining superpower, has many enemies. Because attacking America or its interests alone would surely
end in defeat for a single nation, these enemies are likely to form alliances. Therefore, basing readiness on
American military superiority over any single nation has little saliency. The evidence indicates that the U.S.
armed forces are not ready to support America's national security requirements. Moreover, regarding the
broader capability to defeat groups of enemies, military readiness has been declining. The National
Security Strategy, the U.S. official statement of national security objectives,3 concludes that the United
States "must have the capability to deter and,
if deterrence fails, defeat large-scale,

cross-border aggression in two distant theaters in overlapping time frames." 4
According to some of the military's highest-ranking officials, however, the United States cannot achieve
this goal. Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Jones, former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Jay Johnson, and Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael Ryan have all expressed serious concerns about
their respective services' ability to carry out a two major theater war strategy.5 Recently retired Generals
Anthony Zinni of the U.S. Marine Corps and George Joulwan of the U.S. Army have even questioned
Military readiness
is vital because declines in America's military readiness signal to the rest of
the world that the United States is not prepared to defend its interests.
Therefore, potentially hostile nations will be more likely to lash out against
American allies and interests, inevitably leading to U.S. involvement in
combat. A high state of military readiness is more likely to deter potentially
hostile nations from acting aggressively in regions of vital national interest,
thereby preserving peace.
America's ability to conduct one major theater war the size of the 1991 Gulf War.6
2NC ext.
War is not a question of if, but when. Military readiness is
key to combat those threats
Dunn 13 (Dunn III, Richard J-senior analyst at the Northrop Grumman Analysis Center. "The Impact
of a Declining Defense Budget on Combat Readiness." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., 18 July 2013. Web.
16 July 2014. <http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/07/the-impact-of-a-declining-defensebudget-on-combat-readiness>. XM)
Readiness is like a three-legged stool. The personnel, equipment, and training

legs need to be balanced and in sync to support the load. The most modern
equipment is useless without highly trained personnel to operate and employ
it. Conversely, outmoded or unreliable equipment can hamper the effectiveness of the most highly
motivated and skilled personnel. To fight effectively, personnel must train with their combat equipment,
practicing their combat missions under realistic, demanding conditions. Quality personnel, equipment, and
Failure to maintain an appropriate

balance among these dimensions during the current period of budgetary
uncertainty will significantly degrade Americas ability to respond to threats
to its interests. This can lead to major strategic setbacks and significant loss
of life. The challenging balancing act requires wise and effective leadership across all defense-related
institutions. History repeatedly shows that unanticipated events often catch us by
surprise and that as a nation, we have paid a high price in blood and treasure
to compensate for our lack of preparedness. Lower levels of defense resourcing have not
training are the essential dimensions of combat readiness.
been the sole cause of unpreparedness. In many cases, there is an inability to answer the fundamental
question of what are we preparing to do?
Absent an effective answer that guides the

allocation of resources, we can end up with forces that are inadequately
manned, equipped, or trained to meet a comprehensive range of threats,
some of them unanticipated. Answering the what, when, and where
question is particularly challenging and complicated in the current era of
strategic uncertainty. The world is still a violent and dangerous place, and
major existential threats remain vague and unfocused.
Naval readiness solves great power wars.

Conway et al. 7 James T. Conway, General for U.S. Marine Corps; commandant for the
Marine Corps, Gary Roughead, Admiral for U.S. Navy and Chief of Naval Operations, Thad W.
Allen, Admiral for U. S. Coast Guard and Commandant of the Coast Guard, A Cooperative
Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, http://www.navy.mil/maritime/Maritimestrategy.pdf
No other disruption is as potentially disastrous to global

stability as war among major powers. Maintenance and extension of this Nations
comparative seapower advantage is a key component of deterring
major power war. While war with another great power strikes many as improbable, the nearDeter major power war.
certainty of its ruinous effects demands that it be actively deterred using all elements of national power.
The expeditionary character of maritime forces our lethality, global reach, speed,
endurance, ability to overcome barriers to access, and operational agility provide the joint
commander with a range of deterrent options. We will pursue an approach to deterrence
that includes a credible and scalable ability to retaliate against aggressors conventionally,
our ability to
impose local sea control, overcome challenges to access, force entry, and
project and sustain power ashore , makes our maritime forces an indispensable
unconventionally, and with nuclear forces. Win our Nations wars. In times of war,
element of the joint or combined force. This expeditionary advantage must be maintained
because it provides joint and combined force commanders with freedom of maneuver. Reinforced by a
robust sealift capability that can concentrate and sustain forces,
sea control and power
projection enable extended campaigns ashore .
Naval readiness key terrorism, failed states, and

generating diplomacy.
Hultin et al. 6 Jerry MacArthur Hultin, Secretary of the Navy and president of Polytechnic
Institute of New York University, Admiral Dennis C. Blair, former U.S. Director of National Intelligence and
retired U.S. Navy admiral, Naval Power and Globalization: The Next 20 Years in the Pacific,
http://engineering.nyu.edu/files/hultin%20naval%20power.pdf
there are new technological, geopolitical, and warfighting challenges on the horizon that require
solutions. The three most noteworthy are missile defense, irregular warfare peace operations,
As successful as this transformation has been,
counter-insurgency warfare, stability operations and military operations against non-state organizations
using terrorist tactics and the integration of all factors of political-military influence. First, missile
organizations such as Hezbollah

that are sponsored by countries, and even unsponsored militant organizations will field
ballistic and cruise missiles up to intermediate ranges . These weapons will
threaten deployed US naval expeditionary forces , military forces and civilian populations
of U.S. allies, and ultimately the United States itself. Thus, it is imperative that the United
States and its allies develop and deploy a highly effective capacity to
defend against such attacks8 . There is not a single system solution to this threat the
Navy must continue developing more capable sensors,
communications networks, offensive weapons to take out enemy
missiles and their support systems, along with both hard-kill and soft-kill defensive
defense: in the future increasing numbers of littoral countries,
systems that can defeat enemy missiles once they have been launched. The second area in which the
Marine Corps, and, to a lesser extent, the Navy, must continue to develop skills and new systems is
The threats to American interests and citizens will come

increasingly from failed nation states or from militant extremist organizations that
irregular warfare.
operate in ungoverned areas in failed or weak states and in cells taking advantage of civil liberties
sanctuaries in developed countries. As discussed below, the U.S. armed forces are not the only, and often
not the primary government organizations dealing with these threats. However, current weapon, sensor
Development
must continue on systems people and information systems - to understand complex
civil environments where these adversaries operate ; on sensors and communication
and communications systems are not well suited to the missions of irregular warfare.
systems capable in urban environments; on weapons that can defeat close-quarters threats without heavy
on education and training of commanders and troops for

these missions. The final challenge, that of merging diplomatic, information, military
and economic influence into a comprehensive system of systems, requires not only a foundation
of technology to support communications and computing, but equally important, a new culture of
leadership and management that, rather than setting up walls that cordon off collaboration,
collateral damage; and
builds partnerships and shares information.
Perm
Perm links to the Navy DA - Its a question of priority
sequencing the navy must take the lead on marine
energy development to ensure access to proper training.
Quinn 11 (John P. Quinn leads three diverse programs essential to Navy sustainability initiatives, a
B.A. in political science and economic, from Duke University; a J.D. from Georgetown Law Center; and a
LL.M (environmental), with highest honors, from The George Washington University, The U.S. Navys
Sustainability Imperative, November 26, 2011, http://livebettermagazine.com/article/the-u-s-navyssustainability-imperative/)//MW
the nations need to develop new energy sources as a means of

improving its energy and economic security, in some instances these priorities have created
tension between renewable energy development and robust military testing and
training. Offshore oil and gas development, and future wind energy projects,
could potentially obstruct existing military training areas and/or create
interference with radar systems used for testing and training as well as
homeland defense. Ashore, solar towers constructed in proximity to air corridors could create
While supporting
obstructions and/or reflection issues, which could degrade air navigation. Additionally, new wind turbines
some reaching 600 or more feet into the air could create obstruction and interference challenges for
The challenge is to find

solutions that will enable the nations development of needed energy and
other infrastructure while enabling the Navy to carry out its national defense
mission through continuous training and testing at sea, ashore and in the air.
military training and testing at existing bases and range areas.
Towards these objectives, as discussed below, a number of initiatives are underway at the national level
The Navys
active participation in these initiatives, and forward-leaning approach to its
own energy requirements, will help ensure a sustainable future for the Navy
and the nation.
within the Department of Defense (DoD) and within the Department of the Navy (DON).

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CM Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially

B. The plan violates it doesnt extract resources from

Limits are necessary for negative preparation and clash.

upon physical principles thought to be well understood, and (iii) projections

Algae biofuels cant transition away higher GHG

many, if not most, of biodiesel fuels derived from algae have

the world simply cant produce enough

Reject the climate alarmism of the 1AC their impacts are

2NC Warming Inevitable

The projection of the climatic consequences of anthropogenic CO2 emissions

Cease in Gases Wont Stop Warming From Being

parameterized and simplified, includes 14 levels in the ocean; further, its

due to the imposed carbon dioxide increases, as in previous work. All

Policy action cant solve- claims that warming is

It is sometimes imagined that slow processes such as climate changes pose

The council study also said it was unclear whether producing

Rosenoer, a biofuels campaigner with the group, said in a statement.

Algae biofuels rely on fossil fuels emits more CO2 than it

while the ingredients to make algae may be simple, it is still an open

Production costs have to come down. Right now, the economics

Critics maintain that the recycling of carbon lends credence

widespread scale-up will

No transition no price parity with petroleum

With current estimates of algal-based biofuels ranging from US$3002600 per

the final price of a barrel of algae oil when production

Most analysts do not predict full parity with petroleum in the

substantially lower than our current strategy of depending on fossil fuels.

No impact to warming history and scientific study prove

Polish Academy of Sciences

paper was prepared as a source material for a report titled

Truly, a possibility of doubling the crop rotation, or even prolonging

the multilateral trading system can play a significant role . First, at

"Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture must remain a priority

Food insecurity decreasing long term trend proves

Since 1950 the global

No conflict - countries will cooperate over food

Food security is no longer a prime objective of European food and

agricultural policy. There is no credible threat to the availability of the basic

Experimental forms of cooperation are

Algae biofuels are unsustainable large amounts of

they may not be ready to supply even 5 percent,

it was unclear whether producing that much biofuel from

2NC Multilat Solves

World Bank solves food crises

2NC Insecurity Low

The global number of hungry people declined by 132 million between

Among the regions, undernourishment in the

Graduated Cornell Law School (Gordon, Global Food Wars

that's still the equivalent of $150

Wild algae grows fast, but it doesn't yield

September crude prices gained a dollar to over

Prices were pushed up by

Empirics prove no impact to oil shocks

during the 1984 Tanker War phase of that

markets adaptive mechanisms function independently of the US military presence in the

Many key producing countries have

Oil, though crucial, is simply a smaller

Economists now argue, however, that the economic

five days of gas lines in Georgia, and

Algae biofuels cant transition away higher GHG

many, if not most, of biodiesel fuels derived from algae have