Replies

"Then reasonably one would apply those economies of scale to technology we have experience with like coal and/or oil shale that shows much more promise than algae oil."

Turning coal into gasoline is a far more difficult and expensive process than squeezing fat out of algae. Yes, there will be some economies of scale for coal and oil shale, but algae farming is technologically much simpler "Even sewage to methane gas/oil has the benefit of turning a waste stream into several usable products and there is no shortage of feed stock."

Actually, there is a huge shortage of raw material. Sewage to methane is useful for places like feedlots, where the amount of "raw material" is high, and the need for enery low--and even then it is marginally economical.

"Can you think of one advantage algae oil has that does not exist at lower cost in the use something else?"

Doesn't add fossil CO2 to the atmosphere.

Valcent looks to have the best process for producing oil from algae and predicts a $1.70/gal. cost or $71 a barrel plus refining costs. About a year ago The American Association for the Advancement of Science said the Fischer-Tropsch process was competitive when oil was $65/barrel so the cost of production of liquid fuel is likely below that of algae oil bio-fuel. And Sasol has operated profitably for some time even before high crude prices.
True, the process is more complicated than squeezing algae but we do have a supply of coal on hand for hundreds of years and a process with a proven track record.
Sewage, as in human wastes, might be in short supply around feed lots but the cities have a constant supply and plenty of volume. Probably cheap if anyone wants it.
If low CO2 production is only advantage to algae oil then there is no advantage as CO2 is a fine fertilizer for our crops and forests. And the plants that became coal took lots of CO2 from the atmosphere so turning coal into fuel is just returning CO2 from whence it came. More CO2, more plants for food for animals and humans, greener earth, all good.
If you think algae oil is the coming thing PetroSun’s stock just shot up to $.15 from $.14/share. And Valcent’s stock is a whopping $.50/share. Do you suppose there's a reason investor aren't snapping up these bargains?