It doesn't take a huge amount in the way of active suppression: hire a some of the brightest industrial chemists and pay them well to work on your stuff instead

It doesn't take a huge amount in the way of active suppression: hire a some of the brightest industrial chemists and pay them well to work on your stuff instead of untested, unprofitable algae technology. Other smart people will similarly work on financial derivatives or cost-per-click optimisation instead of money-losing algae. It's not a conspiracy, it's just capitalism chasing returns.