Why Algae? Consider these quick facts:

Algae has the highest net energy yield (33-to-1) of any biofuel, meaning it only takes one unit of energy to produce 33 units of usable energy.

Algae, since it is not a food crop, will not cause food shortages or increase prices.

Algae can be used to treat wastewater. In fact, it thrives on these nutrients.

Algae does not lead to a netincrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide, as it consumes massive amounts of CO2 during growth.

Corn-based ethanol is not the solution

There’s simply no way around it; ridding this nation of corn biofuels is a necessity, mostly due to three main reasons:

  1. It fails miserably at its goal of reducing dependence on foreign oil
  2. It negatively affects the global food market
  3. It is environmentally harmful in many ways

Just as the prices of gasoline are inextricably linked to everything we purchase in stores, so too are the prices of corn. Most sweetened foods and drinks are produced with high fructose corn syrup, and most of the food we eat contains corn somewhere, as it is the main diet of cows, pigs, and chickens (Vidal). When corn rises in price, so does the price of steak, soda, and snack foods. When corn is used to produce ethanol, less is available to consumer markets, resulting in elevated grocery bills. In response to former President Bush’s challenge to produce 35 billion gallons of “non-fossil transport fuels” by 2017, American corn growers upped their production levels, transferring 20% of the nation’s corn crop to biofuel production (Vidal). The results were drastic, as the world watched corn double in price within a 10 month period in 2007. As the world’s largest exporter of corn, we raised the price of pork in China by 42% and tortillas in Mexico by 400% (Vidal). As unfortunate as that is, here comes the real shocker: 20% of the US corn crop only fueled 2% of our vehicles.

Another downside of corn is that it is a terribly inefficient form of energy. Researchers measure a fuel’s energy balance, or net energy yield, by calculating how much energy is actually created after subtracting all the inputs that go into the processing and transportation of the fuel. Essentially, it is a measure of how efficient it is from start to finish, where higher numbers are desirable. According to an article in the “Briefing” section of The Week magazine, traditional fossil-based fuels have a net energy yield of 5-to-1, meaning that we receive five times the amount of energy from it as we put into it. Sugar cane, another biofuel crop, has a balance of 8-to-1, while corn has a very meager energy balance of 1.3-to-1. This means that “corn-based ethanol produces barely more energy than is consumed to make it.” Not only is corn not very productive, it “produces more lung-damaging ozone than gasoline does,” and relies on environmentally harmful fertilizers and pesticides to produce it. It is indeed challenging to find a truly good reason to produce ethanol from corn, that is, of course, unless you’re one of the farmers making a profit off of it.

Find out why algae is a better solution.

These companies are already pursuing algae biofuels:

Click to learn more.

Solix BiofuelsAlgenol FuelsSaphire EnergyExxonMobilSeambioticSolazyme