The Algae Environmental Solution

Biofuels were once welcomed as the solution to using fossil fuels such as oil and coal. However it was quickly discovered that the energy cost to grow the corn and soybean used to make the bio fuels is not environmentally or economically sustainable and may in fact increase the amount of carbon dioxide emissions (in growing them).

Producing these crops (soybean and corn) in large enough quantities to supply food demand as well as bio fuels is a real concern. These bio fuels have been blamed for increasing the price of food and also wasting arable land to produce the crop for bio fuels.

Recently though there has been a shift from these first types of bio fuels to new advanced bio fuels that show some great promise. Exxon Mobil has teamed up with a bio tech research company to produce an algae based bio fuel. Algae has been welcomed as an excellent alternative to crop based bio fuels. It only requires water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. It can be grown in large tanks and can double its size through photosynthesis, in about a day.

This sounds like the perfect bio fuel, and while we are excited to learn about Exxon Mobil's investment in cleaner fuels, we also remain weary that this algae based bio fuel will be a viable environmentally friendly fuel alternative. A crop that doubles daily and does not require the burning of fossil fuels to grow, will be a great boost to alternative fuels.

We like to keep things positive at GoGreenMug.com and so we will also believe that Exxon Mobil is investing in this technology because they understand the importance of reducing waste and finding a sustainable fuel source.

All this investment and reports of new technology and environmentally sustainable fuels suggests that we are on the right track to solving our environmental crisis. As investment grows so will the speed at which new discoveries are made. We look forward to reading about more of them and we will let you know if we find any of them interesting.