Biofuels today are expensive. It's also hard to do and there are a lot of problems with the effects it has on the soil and water around the area where it is grown. Most importantly, it's not all that efficient. When this research began, we were hoping to find petrol, but instead found ethanol which stores less energy, can be corrosive, and also absorbs water. In America, we have devoted such a large amount of land to corn production that we have made the production of ethanol profitable. Regardless, the problem is still there that these huge surfaces of land are no longer producing food for human consumption. Cellulosic biofuel has been looked into, but has thus far failed because it fails to deliver, and still produces ethanol. Today there is a group of companies that are working together to change this. Instead of ethanol being produced, they are going to make hydrocarbons, which are molecules very much like those that already power our cars today. They will be call "drop-in" fuels because they can be put into any tank or pipe with no commotion. They also will be produced consistently by these genetically engineered bugs, so the market would be more stable. This break through could be what biofuels needs to become a stronger source of energy around the world. Right now, America is doing all we can to stay on top, even if it costs us all of our land. Before we have no good soil left to grow food, something must be done. This technology could provide the remedy.
http://www.economist.com/node/17358802
When we went to the Pickle research center, we saw some algae like this. But to make any oil it took a huge amount of algae. If we were to replace the ethanol that already has a place in our fuel with algal biofuels, how much land and water would it take up? I agree that something must be done, but I don't know if algae is the answer. It does seem like a feasable alternative, but how much will it actually save us on land and water resources. The land of course wouldn't have to be farmland, so that could help.
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