its already going on such a large scale, that it cant be bought out by big oil. the only thing stopping it is that its new technology and hasnt been fully developed yet. its got years or testing and research still before it would even be ready for anything main stream. they have made the fuels, they do work, but currently theyre testing which algaes grow best, how they fair in the real world vs the lab, etc...once its developed fully, they have to work on acquiring the land and building the facilities etc etc if algae fuels take off, i would estimate it at least 15 years down the road before anything is being pumped into your tank to say anything other than big oil will never work isnt that accurate...you can already buy bio diesel at the pump in california, and algae fuel would be used as a type of biodiesel also, e85 is available at the pump now which uses very little oil big oil will always have its place, even if we switched to 100% electric cars.....so many products are made from petroluem aside from just fuels