Algae bloom, an energy boom?

Green algae can double their mass every day, stretch in thick mats for miles and deprive other sealife of essential oxygen, reports Clive Cookson in Financial Times.

The blooms are a result of nutrient-loading from industrial and agricultural run-off and are aided by climate change, reports Cookson, but there might be a thin silver-lining to this green menace.

Cookson reports that some energy scientists are excited by the potential of these blooms to be harvested for biofuel. While this does not eliminate our responsibility to control nutrient-loading and work to reverse climate change, it is a great example of how we can learn to see opportunities within bad situations.


Clive Cookson, "Curse and blessing of blooming algae," Financial Times, July 12/July 13, 2008.

Photo of colonies of green algae by Simon Andrews licensed under Creative Commons.