Neither plant nor animal, algae are simple organisms within the larger Eukaryota domain that contains plants, animals and fungi – but some types of algae are up to two billion years old, and are thought to be the ancestors of modern plants that use photosynthesis. Algae can be single-celled or multi-celled, and the term “algae” itself is so broad that scientists are not in full agreement about what counts as algae and what does not. The key is that algae usually live in the ocean near the surface and use chlorophyll to create energy, just the way plants do.
Why is the life cycle of this mysterious organism so important? Well, just by existing as it has for ages, algae might be the key to creating power while reducing pollution at the same time. Algae brings to the table the additional benefit of being an organism that scientists can manipulate easily with controlled breeding, and some algae species have numerous interesting properties. For example, they can be coaxed into producing an oil as a byproduct of their metabolism. We can refine this oil and then use it for heating, gasoline, or anything else for which we would use crude oil or natural gas. That’s powerful! At this point, the research has reached the stage where a team can create an algae that will eat polluted water and produce clean water and oil.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone is going to have an algal biofuel powering their homes and cars by the end of the year. There are some serious obstacles left to overcome before reaching this point. One of the biggest ones is scaling. Right now, it would be hard to build a facility focused on algae that can produce a reasonable amount of oil and water. There are, however, a handful of facilities leading the way in algae growth, including one at the University of Texas, and some energy providers in Canada have already experimented with using specially-engineered algae to clean up oil spills, curb emissions from oil sands, and convert CO2 to industrial products.
There are some major advantages to choosing algae as a biofuel source instead of soy or corn. One of the biggest is space. To power the whole United States, we would need to plant soy on half of the country’s land area, according to Aurora Biofuels, an energy company. The US Department of Energy found that to accomplish the same feat with algae would require less than one percent of the nation’s land area. Plus, soy would require more pollution in the form of fertilizers and pesticides, while algae could actually clean water as it produces power.
Algae on coastal rocks at Shihtiping in Taiwan
It is well within the realm of possibility that biofuels, and particularly algae, will comprise a major part of our energy production within the coming decades. Biofuel from algae does not take much refinement to be useful for cars and buses, so it could displace oil as the primary method of powering our transportation. That would lead to less pollution from oil extraction, refinement, and burning, as well as less reliance on foreign sources of the resource. We could simply grow the algae here and enjoy the side benefits: purified water and green energy facilities.
Photo Credits
Algae on coastal rocks at Shihtiping in Taiwan – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Electron micrograph of the unicellular coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa oceanica – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Featured Image – A variety of algae growing on the sea bed in shallow waters – Wikimedia Creative Commons
Guest Author Bio
Kate Voss
Kate Voss is a freelance writer from Chicago who loves restoring antique furniture. Her most recent project was upcycling her mother’s old trunk to be used as a coffee table.
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