Algae 101: Part 37
NASA and DARPA sponsored the 100-year Starship Symposium in Orlando to develop a viable and sustainable model for persistent, long-term, private-sector investment into the myriad disciplines needed to make long-distance space travel…
Algae 101 Part 36
Industrial agriculture is highly sensitive to climate variability and weather extremes, such as droughts, floods, temperature spikes, and severe storms. Weather tolerant algae-based crops grown with abundance methods could provide…
Algae 101 Part 35
A food supply based on fossil resources imposes five fatal errors on societies; constantly rising prices, freshwater scarcity, soil erosion and degradation, severe environmental insults and eventually crop failure. A food supply not dependent on fossil…
Algae 101 Part 34
The four primary metrics that examine sustainable food and biofuels are life cycle analysis, ecological footprint, freshwater footprint, and carbon footprint. The proposal here suggests a food and biofuels footprint can improve…
Algae 101 Part 33
rince Charles has advocated sustainable agriculture with less dependence on fossil resources for over 30 years. He shared his insights in a keynote address at the Georgetown University Future of Food Conference in May 2011…
Algae 101 Part 32
Net zero food production has minimal or no negative impact on the environment. In May 2011, Except Integrated Sustainability announced the Polydome, a revolutionary approach to greenhouse agriculture that offers the possibility…
Algae 101 Part 31
The new book Freedom Foods: Superior Nutrition and Taste from Low on the Food Chain—for People, Producers and Our Planet, (June, 2011) develops the value proposition for foods and other forms of energy from algae. Freedom foods enhance health…
Algae 101 Part 30
The last post summarized the fascinating research that suggests algae genes may help several million people who suffer from retina diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. The key element for resolving retina diseases is gene…
Algae 101 Part 29
Algae have 3.7 billion years of evolutionary experience with light. Since algae use light for energy, early algae evolved a gene that helped algae recognize the path toward light. Algae’s ability to recognize light offers several lines of fascinating research…
Algae 101 Part 28
Every few months, a new study argues for or against algae biofuels. The issues each article brings forward are worth thoughtful consideration. This author has published over 60 peer-review research papers and book chapters…
Algae 101 Part 27—SOAR: A New Algae Solution
The SOAR project, Save Our (children’s) Agricultural Resources, holds promise to yield six times the energy derived from the nine billion gallons of corn ethanol produced annually. SOAR may also deliver…
Algae 101 Part 26: Did Algae’s Great Taste Make Us Do It?
Possibly the most interesting unanswered question in science is: “How did we become human while our contemporary Homo cousins became extinct?” In a prior article, I proposed a new “down the food chain”…
Algae 101 Part 25: Algae Industry Expansion from Social and Political Drivers
A variety of economic, social and health factors will accelerate algae industry growth. The rising cost of fossil foods, fuels, and fertilizers, while…
Algae 101 Part 24: Freedom MicroFarms with Algae Restructure Our Food Supply
Our society needs a free new, supplementary method for food production built on a sustainable foundation that frees growers from the risk of crop failure and…
Algae 101 Part 23: Obesity and Diabetes Moderation with Algae
Algae are the oldest photosynthetic organisms on Earth, having survived 3.7 billion years. This tiny plant developed incredible survival strategies in order to flourish through climatic cycles, temperature spikes…
Algae 101 Part 22—Can Algae Serve 100 Million Environmental Refugees?
Millions of environmental refugees will migrate from the food sparse south to north by 2020, fleeing food shortages sparked by climate change. The UN projects 50 million…
Algae 101 Part 21—Job Creation in the Algae Industry
Political, social and business leaders agree on relatively little but they are aligned in promoting job creation. President Obama holds high profile meetings with industry leaders such as…
Algae 101 Part 20—India’s Hard Lessons from GE Crops
Algae producers considering GE crops might learn from India’s lessons. India will overtake China as the largest population within the next decade and may have trouble supplying sufficient good food…
Algae 101 Part 19—Your Algae Library
One of the most important questions people ask about the algae industry is “What are the books that I should read?” Unfortunately, algae enthusiasts not trained in science cannot understand the dense science…
Algae 101 Part 18—Abundant Agriculture
Food and energy security play havoc with environmental policies, economics and society. Too many countries, including the U.S., enact comprehensive anti-pollution policies and…
