Related to that discussion but I couldn't find a suitable 'jump off' point.
I don't want to sound like an IMM level fantasist, but I seem to remember reading something somewhere about ethanol powered fuel cells. The article was suggesting that algae could be grown in conditions which caused it to produce ethanol which could then power a fuel cell.
How feasible would it be to have locally generated electricity from industrial sized fuel cells powered by ethanol generated from a renewable source like algae?
I suspect the main problem is in the surface area needed to generate the quantity of ethanol required for serious production of electricity. I'm sure someone else can point out far more obvious flaws.
Also how much does local generation lower the overall generating capacity required because it doesn't have to be pushed so far over high voltage lines? Having said that I'm making the huge assumption that pushing electricity over high voltage lines is wasteful... which as assumptions go I couldn't actually justify...
Anyway - just wondering. Not trying to start another barney