My interest in renewable energy started with my curiosity about algae biofuels, for which I started a web resource, Oilgae, which I think is still the leading web dedicated web resource for this exciting research domain (though sadly I have little time any more to focus on that topic, a small team of biotech folks from my company do that for me)
While the biofuels sector is going through a rather tough time, owing to a variety of factors, make no mistake that this is a sector with tremendous potential. You are talking about 4 billion T of (fossil) oil being used every year, and that is about $ 4 trillion (yes, TRILLION) market for you. A 10% share transfer to biofuels would mean a $400 billion market…you get the idea.
Within biofuels, aviation biofuels is a niche that could become a reality faster than the mainstream automobile biofuel market. This report says this sector alone could be a $100 billion opportunity.
All I’d say to those biotechnologists and chemical engineers and biofuel entrepreneurs is: Don’t lose your eye on the ball just because the market is in bad shape right now.
