Algae: An Exceptional Microorganism

Representing over 300,000 species, algae are single-cellular and multi-cellular, photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic and inhabit both freshwater and saltwater. Over billions of years, algae perfected photosynthesis—the process of converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen—producing the oxygen in our atmosphere and creating the conditions needed to establish a protective ozone layer in the process. In fact, much of the fuel powering today’s society is algae that fossilized below earth’s surface over millions of years.

Unlike land plants, algae rarely have different tissue types, like roots, stems or leaves. Instead, most forms of algae are single-cellular or a colony of repeating cells. Under the right conditions, algal growth occurs at an exponential rate, where one cell turns to billions, even trillions, in a matter of weeks. This high level of productivity, combined with the ability to thrive in many environments, makes algae a natural fit to answer many of the environmental, natural resource and energy challenges now facing society.

“Scale and scope are the biggest challenges in algae. LiveFuels is figuring out how to manage the entire system.”

- Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones, CEO of LiveFuels