[LomanBill]

[It will take more, much, much, more than a ray of hope for algae to account for even a tiny percentage of fuel usage in the U.S.]

The longest journey begins with a single step.

[unless one thinks that a thousand square miles of land will be devoted to algae growing in the near future.]

Ever been to the Mojave?

How near that future is depends upon the motivation to make it happen.

[count-your-change]

Yes, I have been to the Mojave and much of the southwestern desert area as I lived in Arizona and traveled around the area on business. And I know a lot that land is suitable only for deserts.
One of most promising companies in the algae to oil business is Valcent (vctpf). Their closed system doesn't require the vast land areas of open ponds.
They predict a 100 thousand gal./acre production with a cost of $1.70/gal. cost or about twice the production costs of a barrel of tar sand oil from Canada.
Despite Valcent’s optimistic press releases they lost $11 million dollars last fiscal year and their stock sells at $.50/share so investors don't seem to share the companies rosy view of algae.