Biofuel Possibilities: Electricity Produced from Algae for the First Time

The business of trying to find alternate ways for biofuel production is a profitable one. Thousands of companies are currently racing one another to come up with alternatives to our current biofuel options. What many of you may not realize is that there has been a race to figure out how to use algae as a way to create biofuel. Companies are trying to create this fuel through chemical processes that extract sugars from the algae. Now comes the news that during one of these studies a company was able to produce electricity from algae for the very first time ever.

The most amazing part of taking electricity from the algae is that it is done completely without the assistance of processing or chemical magic. It is a known fact amongst the scientific community that animals have been stealing energy from algae since before man was present. Animals usually take this energy the same way that we were trying to take the energy: by extracting sugar from the algae. However, a group of Korean and Californian researchers developed a method for taking the energy without hurting the algae in the process.

The most common form of algae is known as the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Scientists decided to conduct their research on this form of algae because it is the most present form on earth today. Their method was incredibly simply yet amazing as well. What they did is apply an over-voltage to the algae. Basically, they sent a tiny current that shocks the cells into a rapid motion. They discovered that if they did this while exposing the algae to sunlight, that the algae actually began to produce energy that could be used.

As amazing as this discovery is there is of course a downside. It would take scientists trillions of algae to power just a simple amp. Some of you might now think that reading this article was a waste of time and that this breathtaking discovery is garbage. However, you are missing the biggest part of the overall picture. This is proof that scientists can get energy from different organisms without chemically altering them in the process. Perhaps this will lead to more tests being conducted on how to generate energy from different kinds minus using chemicals to get it done.

This opens the door for different types of biofuel research to be conducted. We are making amazing strides towards figuring out a way to use the earth in a positive way to generate energy without damaging it in the process. It is incredibly important to continue this trend towards being more environmentally conscious before it is deemed too late. Keep yourself posted here for any more updates about this recent discovery.

Sources:

1. Steven Mottor, My Own Knowledge, 2010
2. Discovery, http://news.discovery.com/tech/algae-electricity-stealing.html, 2010