While this study demonstrates that progress is being made in the
field of algal biofuels and bioproducts (as new technologies continue
to improve the economic and environmental potential of algae products),
it also illustrates that widespread near-term investment is not
feasible. Even the most promising cases yield minimum sale prices
that exceed expected near-term market commodity prices for petroleum
and/or animal feeds. Although the EROI for many cases in this
study are greater than unity, which represents energy-positive operation,
most cases yield an EROI that is too low to be economically viable
(it is estimated that an EROI N 3 isneeded[82]). In addition, the requirements
for high purity CO2 and large amounts of fertilizer are barriers to
large-scale commercial deployment. Finally, the large capital cost (tensof-
millions of dollars with associated financing) and high risk associated
with a large-scale algae production facility also deter realized algae production
at commodity scale. Based on the results of this study, potential
means of improvement include: