[chriskiss]

Originally Posted by JerkWeed

Algae is more useful for diesel rather than ethanol. The algae produce lipids and can be engineered for specific carbon chains. Using vertical, closed water systems allows them to produce much greater quantities with less land space and water than open pond systems.

For those interested, here again is the link to the video interview with the head scientist at Vertigro.

You're missing a key point. Using the speech: "the only water we lose is what's actually bound up in the algae and goes into the oil itself." Every mixture of hydrocarbon and water contains has an azeotrope. You will run into the same problem everytime. You cannot get the purity required by distillation.

It's going to be more expensive than simply pulling it out of the ground or using the tar sands. Any additional processing increases cost. And when he says they can engineer specific carbon chains, that's not quite true. The algae produce simple hydrocarbon compounds that can then be used to produce things like jet fuel. There's a reason this isn't being used already considering how simple it is.