Comment Bacteria = 360 MWh, Solar = 2,569 MWh (Score 1) 386
If I did my math right, 10,000 gallons of gasoline is approximatley 360,000 kWh. Each acre is ~4046 square meters so the incident solar energy is approximately 2023 kW assuming approximately 500 W/m2. Assuming 12 hours of light a day results in 8,860,740 kWh of incident solar energy. Taking the 29% efficiency number from wikipedia yields a final total of 2,569,600. So a first order estimate says the bacteria will yield 360 MWh versus 2,569 MWh for solar. I'm sure there are other considerations I left out including how much it would cost both in energy and dollars to create a one acre field of each, but I was curious how the numbers compared as well.