In the 1980s, Davies (1992) reported an economic analysis for SCO production ($0.80–$1.00/kg MO) from waste lactose (200,000 m³ whey per year), utilizing the yeast strain Candida curvata. Based on this cost and using an order-of-magnitude approximation, the SCO production cost in 2008 would have been $1.4–1.8/kg (this value does not include the biodiesel production cost from SCO); in the case that whey is used as carbon source. Ratledge and Cohen (2008) reported that the minimum price of microbial oil produced from yeast or fungi could be $3/kg.

Koutinas et al. (2014) presented a thorough evaluation of microbial oil production and its potential utilization as feedstock for biodiesel generation. Based on published experimental data obtained from Rhodosporidium toruloides cultures using glucose-based media, Koutinas et al. (2014) reported that industrial implementation of microbial oil production is dependent on the fermentation media used and on the productivities and final microbial oil concentrations achieved. Additionally, it was estimated that for a glucose price of $400/t, the oil production cost and biodiesel production cost were in the range of $5.5/kg oil and $5.9/kg biodiesel, respectively. If it is considered that biodiesel production from SCO is still at an early research stage, then the above economic considerations demonstrate that SCO production deserves more thorough research and development.