I wonder if someone can invent a boat

[YuriB]

a fishing boat which will utilize the catch for propulsion energy????

[harlemriverman]

seems self defeating. in effect you would be converting net earnings into cost of goods sold. i would think the math for fishing vessels should focus on cost of operations per pound of catch sold, which says that you want the most efficient fuel systems for the most effective catching practices possible, with the least waste fish meaning that under the very best of circumstancess you wouldn't have excess fish to convert to fuel.

[daiquiri]

That would be a marinized version of the big nonsense that's being promoted by the governments around the world - use the potential food for humans to feed the cars.

[harlemriverman]

so true. funny too...feed the cars, not the people. got to love those governments.

[clmanges]

You might instead consider harvesting kelp to fuel it . . . I think that would burn better (smell better, too).

[Tcubed]

The only way is to get the fish to tow the boat to harbour, you're all focused on burning them-sick.

[harlemriverman]

sometimes these threads are compelling evidence that the human race is destine to destroy itself and everything we touch...its no wonder beings of a higher intelligence make a point of not letting it be known they visited.

[gjoa008]

The Alaskan fishing industry generates a huge amount of fish oil, that mostly goes to waste. Some fish processing plants in turn use this oil as biodiesel to run their generators and boilers to keep the plant running. Rather than have an onboard system to collect the oil (this would only be feasable on large processor type vessels) the fish plants could sell the oil back to the fishermen as a cost recovery program.

[StianM]

Originally Posted by gjoa008

The Alaskan fishing industry generates a huge amount of fish oil, that mostly goes to waste. Some fish processing plants in turn use this oil as biodiesel to run their generators and boilers to keep the plant running. Rather than have an onboard system to collect the oil (this would only be feasable on large processor type vessels) the fish plants could sell the oil back to the fishermen as a cost recovery program.

There has ben produced some biodiesel made from fish waste, but it contain a certain amount of "sodium"?? was something in it, but don't quite remember what.

[Stumble]

There are currently a number of programs in operation turning fish oil into biodiesel in Alaska and Hawaii. Unfortunatly there is still a large amount of it being dumped into the eco-system, but as these programs expand that number is expected to be reduced significantly, particularly from the commercial processing plants that both cause pollution problems and can see a real benefit in the new technology.

The problems as I understand them are primarily centered on reducing proteins from the oil before burning it, the fact that it must be processed quickly after harvesting (not sure why), and the higher gelling temprature of fish oil vs #2 diesel.

http://www.akenergyauthority.org/PDF...elbrochure.pdf
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007497.html

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by YuriB

a fishing boat which will utilize the catch for propulsion energy????

They used to call them whalers, but the sooner the whale stopped towing the boat the better for all concerned. Except the whale.
.

[YuriB]

I didn't mean hunting for whales, for those who dont know, whales are animals, not fish.
By the way drilling for oil and burning fuel oil hurts nature not less than fishing. I used to work in a large fishing fleet of giant trawlers and motherships and technology itself and amount of desel fuel spent for searching, trawling, freezing,processing and transportation is huge. So i would consider thinking twice before saying that earnings from fishing is higher than possibly using fish for fuel directly. This is why the industry turns in to the way of breeding fish in the fishtanks.
Also in post i did not mean large cargo ships to be fueled by catch, but rather small motor yachts, which are not supposed to consume all fish in the ocean for leasure trips.
Usage of food to feed the cars is different case, because the fuel you're talking about is being harvested from fields which could better be used for planting of wheat or whatever cereals, rather than raps or sunflowers.
And last, there is a technology besides fish oil, which called fermentation of organic waste. This produces burnable gas and the technology sounds to be more efficient than fish oil.

[harlemriverman]

now you're thinking yuri. burning farts is a lot more sensible than burning those that produce them, although that's not to exclude the possibility that some farts burn all by themselves.

[daiquiri]

Hmmmm, now that you mentioned it... I've never thought about this one, actually - do fish make farts too?
And a related hydrostatic question: do they sink after they release a fart bubble?

[rwatson]

Well, if huge whales etc can run on plankton, theoretically a big boat could fuel iteself on plankton too.
Since a boat doenst have to keep itself warm. there might be enough left over for humans to survive on as well.
Hell, a big amount of oil was plankton to start with.

There is a thread I tried to destroy some time back that discussed the benefits of boats sucking cold nutrient water up to warmer surface water, that not only created sufficient temperature differential to provide significant amounts of power, but also created a large algal bloom (and attracted fish etc)

We could get some of Welmers concrete submarines ( which could submerge in bad storm conditions ), moor it near a volcanic fissure for extra power (of which there are thousands around the pacific) and create a permanent floating city like in the science fiction movies.

Shares at 10 cents each anyone ???