January 25, 2011, 2:50 PM

The Future of Algae Fuels Is … When? (NYTimes)

By TOM ZELLER JR.

The Associated PressStrains of algae in the “strain room” at the algae-fuel maker Solazyme in California. A new study suggests that production of algae-based fuels won’t reach commercial scale anytime soon.

As I write in Tuesday’s Times, a new study from the Rand Corporation, the global policy think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif., and formed more than 60 years ago to advise the American government on military issues, suggests that Department of Defense is wasting its time exploring alternative fuels.

It raised particular questions about the near-term viability of algae-based fuels, which the study’s authors considered to be more or less laboratory-level stuff — and certainly not likely to scale up to any significant extent in the next 10 years.

Given that the military has gone to great lengths to publicize its ongoing efforts to go green, and in particular, algae-green, the report did not sit well with with everyone.

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