I first wrote about commercialization efforts five years ago, but recent developments indicate that scientists are getting closer to the finish line.

Diversified Energy Corporation is working with XL Renewables to commercialize its algae production called Simgae (for simple algae). The companies say the process can cut the cost of algae feedstock (currently 60 percent or more of the total cost) by at least half.

Algae has been shown to produce 30X more oil and require 1/100th the water per acre when compared to traditional crops, according to Diversified Energy, but the upfront cost of up to $1 million per acre has hindered investment.

Here's Diversified Energy's description of the technology:

Simgae uses a "...thin walled polyethylene tubing, called Algae Biotape, similar to conventional drip irrigation tubes. The patent pending biotape is laid out in parallel across a field. Under pressure, water containing the necessary nutrients and a small fraction of algae are slowly introduced into the biotape. Carbon dioxide is injected periodically and after roughly 24 hours the flow leaves the Algae Biotape with a markedly greater concentration of algae than was started."

The companies say the capital cost can be as low as $45 K (I'm guessing per acre) and produce feedstock that is one third or less of the cost of fossil fuels.

The two companies also have broken ground on a $250 million, 2,700-acre biorefinery and dairy plant called XL Biorefinery in Vicksburg, Arizona that will live off grid and produce fertilizer, ethanol, and oh yeah, milk.

Meanwhile, algae-to-biofuels company LiveFuels snared a big brain in the biomass world, hiring former NREL algae-to-biodiesel program director John Sheehan as its Vice President of Strategy and Sustainable Development.

And finally, in the U.K., researchers have developed a Greenbox that can replace the exhaust of a car and trap the emissions in algae that can be taken off the vehicle and turned into biofuel.

This idea is hampered by having to remove the box every time you fill up, but perhaps the application could be used to capture CO2 from coal or natural gas plants (like the folks at Israel company Seambiotic, which would encourage more use of electric cars.