You ain't no scum!

Hmm..today again was one lousy Sunday. Did nothing useful. Mom called me scum. Have you seen those wet mossy green mass on the surface of the ponds? I actually felt like that too. But the irony is, even those green things are a million times more useful than me! HOW? They are just floating there all the time and spreading rapidly making it tougher to clear them out, you may say. Yes, true. But those those wet mossy green things biologically called algae do some great things out there just by floating and spreading. WHAT?

Yeah, algae are the simplest and most abundant form of plant life on earth, responsible for more than half of the worlds primary production of oxygen! They are an extremely important species. For one, they produce more oxygen than all the plants in the world, combined! For another, they form an important food source for many animals such as little shrimps and huge whales. Thus, they are primary producers placing themselves at the bottom of the food chain with many living things depending upon them. Now they are being used to treat wastewater, reducing the need for greater amounts of toxic chemicals than are already used. There are many more such applications of algae today. But one wonderful application of algae is its capability to produce oil.

Algae could produce biofuel while cleaning up other problems like sewage, effluent, atmospheric CO2 and so on thus, also being a solution to global warming. So, can we call algae the biofuel of the future? Of course! I consider it a boon in disguise. So next time someone calls you scum, tell them you are not worth it! ;)