Please, don't get me wrong. I'm NOT downplaying the seriousness of the Fertilizer shortages we're seeing developing. I think this is going to make life even more interesting in the coming years than it was going to be otherwise. However, algae, and to a lesser extent, I think, Jatropha will return a lot of it's phosphorous back into the system.

It's my hunch that most of the phosphorous locked up in algae will exit in the biomass, and not in the oil. An analogous situation would be where the advanced ethanol plants are removing the corn oil before processing the starch for ethanol. It's my understanding that this does not, to any appreciable extent, affect the nutrient content of the left-over distillers grains.

Thanks for your comment. I was thinking more of landspace rather than fertilizer, knowing little as I do about all the resources needed for agriculture.

Just for clarification, are you saying jatropha ethanol would result in a net gain for phosphorous, or a minimal net loss?

Pepper, that amount that is removed in the oil, and burned in an engine would definitely be lost. I'm just guessing (I'll try to find some proof) that most of the phosphates will end up in the remaining biomass which will probably, in the end, be fed to cattle, and returned to the earth as manure, or some derivative, thereof.