Why are algae important to biofuels?
Algae is used for a number of applications including food processing, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Algae can also be used as a feedstock for biofuels. Each algae cell has a significant amount of lipids. These lipids can be converted to hydrocarbons which contain stored energy for energy applications. Lipids from algae can be converted to energy by burning the algae in its entirety or processing the biomass into a liquid fuel (biodiesel).
