Summary: Marine Phycology professor Michael Borowitzka is working on an algae that can be burned for fuel as an alternative for fossil fuels. The major benefits to this process is that it does not use fresh water, so it does not take up the supply, while instead it uses salt water, which is much more abundant. Also, it is an efficient way to convert carbon dioxide back into fuel, reversing the damage that humans have done by emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and restoring balance to earths climate. We probably will not see humans using algae as fuel in the next 10 years, but the study is promising for the future and it may be our answer for cutting our dependency of fossil fuels and having a renewable fuel that has a steady rate of energy production. Other people around the world are also working on this idea for alternate fuel and it is hoped that this particular alternative energy will be successful.
Connection: This subject matter relates to molecular genetics because of the biological genetic enhancement that must go on to make the algae a more efficient fuel. Also, a lot of biotechnology is involved in the process of refining and adding genes to the algae to make it more suitable for human use. It also relates to the photosynthesis unit because the algae is using the process of photosynthesis to make burnable energy from carbon dioxide.
does the algae burn as efficiently as the fossil fuel it is meant to replace. also are there any downsides to making this algae such as the time it takes to grow or if it needs a lot of area to grow
ReplyDeleteWhy is it not likely that we will be seeing humans use algae for fuel within the next ten years? How long will it take to complete this study and start using the algae?
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