[dennisw]

Well, naturally the developers are talking it up, and maybe there’s some truth in it, although collecting all that algae and transporting it to a refinery may be harder than one would think.

Algae is a boondoggle
You will have to dig maintain supply water to thousands of square miles of ponds

Then you have to dry out that algae goop before you get bio diesel from it

I doubt algae has much oil content the way soybeans or sunflower seeds do and you can squeeze cooking oil out of them. Thus are bio diesel sources

I'll bet the algae promoters claim they will bio engineer some kind of oily algae.

[jonrick46]

Algae is not a boondoggle. They grow algae in clear plastic—not ponds. The water can be salt water. It is in a closed system where the oil is sifted out and algae left to “grow” more diesel grade fuel. In one acre, you can make 100,000 gallons of fuel per year according to Valcent Inc. And, this does not have to happen in farm land. It could happen on the rooftop of your local Wallmart.

[Wonder Warthog]

"I doubt algae has much oil content the way soybeans or sunflower seeds do and you can squeeze cooking oil out of them. Thus are bio diesel sources"

Actually, algae have far higher "fat" content than oilseeds. That, plus their much faster growth cycle leads them to be far more productive of "bio" fat than soybeans, sunflowers, rapeseed, and others.

[ovrtaxt]

Dennis, check the Valcent link at post 3. They’ve beat those problems.