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I've planted some Chinese Tallow and olive trees, currently about 1.2 metres high and years away from bearing fruit. By that time oil from algae will have been proven or disproven. I think trees have a resilience advantage over slime insofar as they reduce contamination or predation of their lipid producing organs, which then dry in the sun. The problem is slow growth and harvesting effort.
However I'd have to say that oil from trees is a novelty not a large scale solution. Transport must be electrified and the need for liquid fuels (eg aircraft, range extended PHEVs) must come from thermochemical processing of nonfood biomass.
There was a TOD thread last year that has discredited some of the hype about algae oil. Many have made false statements about operating costs required to produce fuels. I recently read that cellulosic ethanol could be produced for under a dollar a gallon. If it is that cheap, why is there no cellulosic ethanol available?
I have read the the EU is not able to meet its biofuels objectives during the preliminary stages. They have stated that they want 10% of the fuel to be biofuels by 2020.
http://useu.usmission.gov/agri/Biofuels.htm
There are numerous indications food to biofuels will not be economically viable.