A possible way of increasing the sustainability of algal biofuels: Levine et al., 2010

Here is an interesting article by Levine et al. (2010), suggesting how algal biofuels can be grown on waste manure, decreasing the need for the depleting phosphorus and for other fertilizers, potentially decreasing the cost of production and simultaneously purifying wastewater.

Such findings may make algal biofuel production more feasable, as this production puts less pressure onto natural resources and increases the benefits. Additionally, after extracting the nutrients with algae, the left-over manure can still be used directly to produce biofuel from the soild remains or from the gas it emits, as will be discussed in my future posts. However, there are other proposed competing uses for manure, such as agricultural fertilizer for food production, limiting the potential for using manure for biofuel.