Part of the problem with ethanol, as I understand it, is the energy required to process and distill it, and resultant CO2 production. Is this less of an issue with algae?
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Yes, I think it is.
My opinion is that the real problem with ethanol is agri-business' firm command of the most popular source for the fuel, corn.
So, with ethanol production, you get all the agri-biz created issues we've discussed before.
To put it another way, even if less carbon intensive methods for processing, distillation and other steps are available (and of course, there are), it's a good bet outfits such as Archer Daniels Midland and allied firms will opt for the lower cost, high yield, C02 robust techniques which have served their profit goals so well for so long.
.d.