The Next Biofuel: Pond Scum?

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) will dip its toes into the renewable energy pond - with a focus on the scum that resides in it.

The oil giant is looking to spend more than $600 million on the research and development (R&D) of next generation biofuels from photosynthetic algae in an alliance with privately held Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), which was founded by genome map pioneer J....