Why Algae for “Green Oil” and Bio-fuels Production?
Green algae are low maintenance, easy to grow and very abundant aqueous life forms that use sun light energy to perform photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a biological process which produces biomass (sugars or oils), oxygen and the high-energy molecule ATP (adenosine triphosphate) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (see Figure 1). All biomass, whether it is sugars or oils, is convertible into bio-fuels, most commonly bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. Moreover, since algae consume the green house gas CO2 during photosynthesis, they are an ideal, cheap and “green” option for effective removal of this green house gas from the atmosphere.
