Solar Energy Storage Using Algae

Abstract

Energy consumption in contemporary society continues to increase at a rapid pace, and global warming due to the resulting use of fossil fuels is growing increasingly severe. We need to search desperately for a practical source of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. Most of the renewable energy sources available for use on earth are limited by factors such as energy from the sun or the inside of the earth, or gravitational attraction between the earth and the moon. However, tracing the origins of fossil fuels shows that they contain concentrated energy originally from the sun and inside the earth. Accordingly, production of fuel oil from microalgae is an attempt to artificially reproduce an instant version of this process. While microalgae fuel oil does emit carbon dioxide when used, it can be considered carbon neutral because the microalgae absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. Through photosynthesis of microalgae, solar energy is converted into and stored as chemical substances. While fats and oils extracted from them can be described as an energy source, they also can be used as a source of energy for human beings, fish, and shellfish—that is, as food. It is projected that in the future the world will face an increasingly severe food crisis due to causes including rapid population growth and climate change caused by global warming. The photosynthetic organisms of microalgae, not very well known until now, have the potential to make great contributions to solving both energy and food problems simultaneously.