There have been significant advances in all aspects of producing fuel from algae in the last four years. If one types in ?algae? to Google Scholar from 2011 to present, 45,000 ?results? are found
and 16,600 are found for ?algae biofuels?. Although researchers are making many advances, the industry has gone through some challenges especially in light of the processing of natural gas and shale oils in the United States and Canada. However, there are a number of companies that specialize in production of algal products and technologies including but not limited to Algenol, Bioprocess Algae, Cellana, Heliae, LiveFuels, and Sapphire Energy. Consortium such as the National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) and National Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium (SABC) were formed and funded primarily by the Department of Energy to investigate the entire value chain from advances in algal biology through conversion to fuel. In this article recent advances are highlighted along with areas for continued research and development.