Algae is smarter than the entire human race - living biofuel

Somewhere in the history, or creation of the human race we became consumers. That meant searching for things like food for our bodies, materials for shelter and more recently electricity, which powers an ever-burgeoning demand for whizbang appliances and gadgets. But energy is where algae wins out against humans. It’s a simple plant with a genius biofuel solution that takes care of the energy needs of its entire population without visible limits.

Algae relies on the source of energy that powers most of Earth in one way or another, the sun. But short of a mutation in humans that allows intrinsic photosynthesis, we can’t measure up. That’s why researchers have sought for decades to understand how plants like algae convert sunlight into usable energy so efficiently, and now the focus is shifting from soil-based vegetation to the ocean.

Specifically “algae yields five to 10 times more bioenergy molecules per area, per time, than any terrestrial plant. Nothing else comes close,” says biologist Greg Mitchell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, according to Science Daily.

What does that mean for humans? Algae is scalable on a global level, and it has the potential to provide large amounts of biofuel oil. But as with most things there are challenges too. Growing enough algae to meet the world’s energy needs (currently addressed largely with petrol products) would essentially require a whole new industry composed of algae farmers.

In some countries where land is at a premium that creates a conflict of interest, though building upward or into the ocean could always provide some flexibility. Before we can truly harness energy from algae there are a variety of questions that need answers. They range from choosing a species of algae that will best create biofuel oil to determining an efficient process for extracting the oil.

Demand for algal energy production has fluctuated in tandem with rising and falling oil prices, and with the recent peak in demand for alternative energy sources researchers are once again finding themselves well funded and in the pressure seat.