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Some strains of algae are virtual biochemical oil factories, so the idea has merit. The problem no one has been able to solve yet is how to grow millions of tons of algae essentially for free - that is, no input costs, no energy costs, and that it virtually harvests itself.

And she neglects to tell the other side of the corruption story - Renewable Energy Standards, whereby a state says “by year such-and-such, X percent of our fuels must come from renewable sources”. This is going on all over the place and it is nothing but a way of creating artificial demand for a product that cannot be profitably produces. In other words, the gummint is messing around on the supply side by declaring Algae the winner and giving incentives to produce it, and also on the demand side.

It’s totally corrupt and intellectually dishonest.

Let the free market pick the winners and demand will be real and supply will grow with private investment to meet it.

I also think that the algae process deserves some research funding. I realize that not every project funded will pan out, but right now, it's impossible to get loans and private-start up equity funding isn't always the right fit.

As we are seeing, the problem are cronyism, insufficient numbers of qualified scientific people to review grant applications and far too much creative writing in grant applications.

I'm hoping that the economy will turn around and a variety of private funding for small projects will be available.

he depletion of world rock phosphate reserves will restrict the amount of food that can be grown, a situation that can only be compounded by the production of biofuels, including the potential large-scale generation of diesel from algae. The world population has risen to its present number of 7 billion in consequence of cheap fertilizers, pesticides and energy sources, particularly oil. Almost all modern farming has been engineered to depend on phosphate fertilizers, and those made from natural gas, e.g. ammonium nitrate, and on oil to run tractors etc. and to distribute the final produce. A peak in worldwide production of rock phosphate is expected by 2030, which lends fears over how much food the world will be able to grow in the future, against a rising number of mouths to feed [1]. Consensus of analytical opinion is that we are close to the peak in world oil production too.

Do the math folks. Algal biofuels does not solve the problem when the math is done on the needed phosphorus to grow algae for fuel.