Why the World Needs More Algae, Not Less

We thought we’d start the new year with a fantastic overview of Why the World Needs More Algae, Not Less, an excellent eight-minute video summary of the multiple ways in which our best friend, algae, in its myriad species, can address global crises. Stay with it past the two-minute mark because you likely haven’t heard or seen it all. Shifting toward an eco-friendly world, one in which plastic is made of biodegradable algae, cow methane is reduced by adding Asparagopsis taxiformis to livestock feed, and the capacity of carbon capture via sinking kelp bales to the bottom of the ocean, is actually already happening.

Join DW Planet A reporter Amanda Coulson-Drasner as she interviews experts who tell us: why growing more algae is better than planting trees; how we can use the systems already in place to make biodegradable plastic; and how we can use the excess amounts of sargassum that are overpopulating beaches of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. When we harvest the sargassum, we can produce hundreds of tons of natural fertilizer — something that dates back to the Roman Empire.

Finally, we learn what we need to do to move ahead on these very real solutions to our very real planetary issues. If you think you know all of this material, keep watching. There’s plenty of review but there’s lots of new material, all very nicely produced. Here’s to making great strides with algae in 2022.

Read more:

Why algae is better than planting trees

Overview of history and types of algae

PHB as bioplastic

Algae reducing methane from cows

Carbon capture through sinking seaweed

Thanks to James Wiess for sharing his microscopic algae images.

Reporter: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Video editors: Amanda Coulson-Dasner, Frederik Willmann
Supervising editors:  Kiyo Dörrer, Joanna Gottschalk