Algae Oil A Promising Contender

Image: Green Car CongressScientists at Colorado State University and the NREL have calculated the theoretical maximum oil yield of algae growing in sunlight as 38,000 gallons per acre. That is a much better yield than maize, rape, soy -- even palm.

Biofuels Digest provides an update look at various algae biofuels projects, including:

Solazyme
Algenol
Petro Algae
Sapphire Energy
Aurora Biofuels
Solix Biofuels

and more . . .

This Chilean algae biofuel project is on schedule for commercial production of micro-algal biofuels within 5 years.

Algae and its diatomaceous cousins have the potential to take the lead in biofuels production from the bio-alcohols by 2020. By 2030, developed nations may be consuming greater amounds of biofuels than petrofuels. It is unlikely that fossil fuels will be completely replaced by biological alternatives until the end of the century, and there will never be "peak oil" in the sense of more fossil fuels having been extracted than still remain in extractable form in the rock and sand.