The 10,000 gallons per acre per year theory is based on the results of small scale experiments that were conducted by NREL in New Mexico between 1978 and 1996, and it's fairly optimistic considering the marginal success they had. The problem was they were growing domesticated algae in surface pools where they were exposed to constant changes in temperature and competition from wild algae. The wild species better adapt to temperature changes because they exert less energy making oil, so the surface pool method doesn't produce that much fuel. Because of this NREL stopped research on algae and concluded in 1998 that petrodiesel prices would have to double to make algal biodiesel cost effective. Since then diesel prices have more than tripled and that's why the private sector continues to do research. They've found that they can grow delicate algae species in closed-circuit photobioreactors to produce high yields of oil. I haven't come across any published results yet so I don't know if the 10,000 gallon theory has been borne out, but given the sheer number of corporations researching algae I'd bet that number has already been surpassed.
|