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Algae expenses weighed up

24th April, 2008

The University of New Hampshire Biodiesel Group has calculated it would cost $308 billion (€195.5 billion) to build enough algae farms to replace petrol with algae-based biodiesel.

It would also cost $47 billion a year to run the production system for 140 billion gallons, or $0.34 per gallon before transportation and retail costs.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory said it would take an algae field of up to 15,000 square miles. Producers and researchers are weighing up the benefits of closed bioreactors versus open algae ponds.

Algae-based research and development continues to pick up in pace, even though the US Defense Department is estimating that the current production cost of algae oil exceeds $20 a gallon.