Algae oil

Abstract

Over the past 5 years or so, there has been a tremendous interest in developing microalgae as a novel, renewable source of biodiesel. This subject has captured the public interest, with frequent headlines seeming to suggest that cheap renewable green oil is just around the corner, as well as attracting significant interest in the investment world, with well over one billion dollars of venture and big oil capital (Mascarelli 2009) being invested in more than one hundred algal biofuels start-ups (Waltz 2009b).