Why not do both?
Oil works and we have more of it than 0bama and company want to admit, so until algae is economically viable, don’t make the switch.
What does the price of oil need to be to make oil from algae profitable and viable. To make oil from coal, the minimum price must be $40 dollars a barrel. For wind power to be viable, the price of oil must be $80 dollars a barrel. There is no data on what the price of oil must be to make algae profitable but since it’s at the research stage I suspect it must be above $120 at minimum. If you think a oil refinery is a scar on the landscape imagine what an algae plant might look like. This man Obama is the worst kind of huckster selling imaginary solutions to non problems. We will eventually need a replacement for oil, but not until technology evolves to meet the need, he simply has no faith in the ingenuity of the american entrepreneurial spirit.
Ever hear of the concept of economies of scale? I don't have a problem with companies choosing to do this on their own, but if the government mandates that x% of fuel must come from algae, then we have government bureaucrats paid for with borrowed Chinese money fining oil companies and raising gas prices further. Don't go there.