Great idea, they can probably get CO2 from local coal power plants (there's one near Lake Powell, for example). There is plenty of uninhabited land in the chosen locations.

The tricky part will be managing the water consumption. Algae farming will take a large area, leading either to high rates of evaporation (if not covered) or high cost (if covered). Fresh water is scarce in both Arizona and Australia. The heat captured in covered pools is low grade (you cannot cook your algae) and therefore poorly suited to electricity generation.

Using marine algae and covered pools (possible floating on the ocean) would be another way to go and, produce thermally distilled water into the bargain. The Sea of Cortez (Baja California) might be suitable.

Anybody: what about salt-water algae?

Rafael,
Since you look to be fairly knowledgeable about different stuff, you should look into that document that Mike provided in resources. Basically it’s a compilation of all different research that was done into algae. It’s kind of boring read, but there is a lot of information in there. You can also learn why they killed all the research into algae except of biological part. Hint: Projections that oil will be cheap for next 20 years, high price that cannot be subsidized by selling of other products, and no credits for carbon mitigation.
Other stuff covered: best places to put algae farms. Differences between open and closed ponds. Ponds on oceans. Using gas/coal power plants to increase amount of CO2 in ponds, etc.

If you read it, you wont be surprised why there is buzz about algae, and why some people try to revamp it.
Cheers,

Didn't the existing oil (and natural gas?) deposits come from prehistoric algae? If so, it's more than a little "interesting" that we're now returning to algae as a way to make fuels. Just sayin'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algaculture#Algae_as_an_energy_source

http://www.phyco.org/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oil_from_algae/

http://www.oilalgae.com/

http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12930

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0605/S00030.htm
Marlborough-based Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation announced today that it had produced its first sample of home-grown bio-diesel fuel with algae sourced from local sewerage ponds.

From what little I know - Algae is the only biofuel I'm interested in. The others seem like wastes of time/money - for the US anyway. Hopefully we'll see some real results from this.

Paul: Here's an article in the Toronto Star from last February about GreenFuel Tech.

A recent article on GreenFuel in the Christian Science Monitor likened the company's algae approach to "a breath mint for smokestacks." According to the article, citing one of the scientists behind GreenFuel, just one 1,000-megawatt power plant using this system could produce "more than 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year."

The CSMonitor article they cite is now unavailable freely. However, the company claims there are 1,000 powerplants in the US with enough land nearby for algae production facilities, with a total potential of 40 billion gallons per year.

Our initial development plan which will be of great value to New Utopia is the cultivation of algae for biodiesel. We have over 400 square miles of suitable (60 feet depth) growing space. The published yield is 9,200,000 gallons of biodiesel per square mile of growing area per year. An area of 40 square miles dedicated to this effort would in theory produce 368 million gallons of biodiesel.

There is a great deal of interest in this technology, but no one has been able to garner a large enough parcel of land with all the attributes to do it on a scale such as we offer. It seems our territory is ideally suited for raising one the most prolific and profitable salt-water species. The fields would be encased in a rigid screen to protect and manage the algae. The ideal temperature, water depth, salinity and food source for the algae specie, which has in excess of 40% lipids (fat/oil content) 30 times as high as corn, soy beans or any other agriculture derived feed stock. For U.S. companies there is a $42 per barrel tax credit in addition to the value of the product.

http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/abacus-stocks-biodiesel.html

This would not only make us self-sufficient but would produce a great deal of income. True, there would be some development cost but much less than necessary in drilling/processing conventional oil and the supply/reserves would never run out. Assuming only a 40 year production scenario, this equates to 14,720,000,000 gallons or 294,400,000 barrels for usable product which does not require further refining to be used in your auto, boat or truck.

Our development plan may be found at http://www.tech-utopia.biz/PNU_devplan.pdf

There are wind driven air compressors on the market that could pump air into algae ponds to improve CO2 capture and enhance growth. Pond scum to the rescue!

most power plants are on water floting algae polythylene
thin wall tubes co2 from power plants friction from wave action keeps algae in motion co2 from fluegas scrubbers feed algae farm.coal gasifacation is the future. two hundred years of coal is what the USA HAS.
LEN RYAN

I think this is "the way of the future" just as howard hughes would say. It would be great to team up with a company like Valcent. They have found a way to build a bioreactor that does not lose water due to evaporation, becuase it would be a closed loop production and not an open pond system like these people are doing it. Man we could give the finger to countries that are just having us by the bull nose ring.