Algenol's production claim

We believe the DIRECT TO ETHANOL® process could allow the U.S. to make 40-50 billion gallons of transportation fuel on as little as 100 square miles of desert or marginal land Algenol

Their claim is ten times what I assumed for initial production. I am expecting a thousand square mile algae farming area off the coast, Algenol has 1/10 of the area needed.

Wiki claims, 1366 watts per square meter at the top of the atmosphere, and 1 kw on the surface. It takes, then, at least 50 sq meters to power the typical electric car.


1 sq mile = 2 589 988.11 sq meters, or 50,000 cars /sq mile, during daylight hours only. So the best is about 5 millions cars supported by 100 square mile. Where is Algenol getting the rest of the energy? What is wrong with my math?

More likely a problem with units. Here is another calculation:]

They determined it would take 11 square miles of open ponds making 14,000 tons of algae a day to replace 50 million gallons of petroleum diesel per year — about 0.1 percent of the U.S. annual diesel consumption — with an eco-friendly algae alternative.Kansas State University researchers

They are close to my 10,000 sq miles to replace it all. That is a 100 mile by 100 mile farming region.