The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of California, Berkeley (United States) recently released a report on "A Realistic Technology and Engineering Assessment of Algae Biofuel Production". The report assesses microalgae-biofuel production economics based on five (existing or expected near-term) technology scenarios. The scenarios include (1) microalgal cultivation, (2) algal harvesting by bioflocculation, and (3) algal oil extraction by hexane. The algal biofuel production technology usually involves the mass cultivation of the algae, followed by algal harvesting and oil extraction, and finally, the conversion of the extracted oil to biodiesel by a chemical reaction with methanol (known as "transesterification"). Highlights of the report include the following: (1) development of cost-competitive algae biofuel production will require much more long-term research, development and demonstration; even with low capital charges, it is not possible to produce microalgal biofuels cost competitively with fossil fuels without major advances in technology, (2) the major cost improvement would be in the biology; that is, the development of algal strains (that can be reliably grown and harvested in outdoor ponds) with at least double the biomass and oil productivity through strain selection and genetic modification. The full report can be accessed at the website of the Energy Biosciences Institute (URL above).