Algae Power!
Neat link that came up from a comment on a post below:
It's an attempt to be a one-stop-shop for oil-from-algae and especially biodeisel. Definitely worth checking out. They are recommending pressing/centrifuging (which I thought might work) as a practical extraction method. Quick idealistic burst: what if I could build a bike-powered centrifuge! Oh man, that would be so hippy-awesome!
The main drawback of Biodiesel from vegitable (algae or other) oil is viscosity. When it gets cold, it'll gum up and quit working. There are a few ways around this, including the creative use of an electric blanket. I'm psyched to try some of this over the summer.
Eventually it would be pretty effin' sweet to be able to disconnect as many physical dependencies with the outside world (e.g. food and energy) and keep up the non-physical connections (e.g. internet) at the same time. This presents an opportunity to solve the main problem with Pirate Utopias (being that they're secret and unsustainable) and do so in a highly public, mainstream-able fashion.