Could you provide a general rundown (in layman's terms please) of the problems you see with it?
Size of the plant to collect enough solar energy.
Viable microbes to do the job.
Infrastructure to keep the microbes alive.
Doing it all in a cost effective manor.
Just common sense. Pilot or demo plants are normally a fraction of the size of production facilities. Why go full scale? These plants usually have an underlying product or technology that the company is already selling. What do these guys sell now?
They’re called pilots or demos because no one ever expects them to make money. Many times the ‘end product’ isn’t actually finished and useable the way a commercial product would be. No sense spending money on something everyone knows how to do, and the additional expense might not justify the return.
The big breakthrough, when it comes - and it WILL come - is going to be far simpler and more elegant.