Professor Ben Hankamer of The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) directs the Centre for Solar Biotechnology (CSB), which connects 30 international teams across Europe, Asia, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

In the not-too-distant future, the fuel for your car, the medicine you take, and even the food you eat could be produced by tiny green algae powered by sunlight.

By 2050, the human population is forecast to expand towards 9.8 billion people, requiring 50% more fuel, 70% more food and 50% more fresh water than in 2005. In parallel, the international community has committed to reducing CO2 emissions by almost 100%to prevent dangerous climate change (or global heating as it is now increasingly described, to reflect current science).

The solution to meet the ever-growing demand for food, fuel and fresh water comes from a source you might not expect – algae. By developing renewable, algae-based fuels, we can move away from our current reliance on finite fossil-fuel resources and meet society’s energy needs sustainably.

Microalgae bioproducts

Over 3 billion years, microalgae – single-cell green algae – have evolved intricate solar interfaces. These contain the photosynthetic nano-machinery which tap into the huge energy resource of the sun and use it to capture CO2and produce oxygen, clean water and biomass. The microalgae biomass produced can then be processed into renewable fuels such as biodiesel, jet fuel, ethanol, methane and even hydrogen.

Unlike traditional crop-based biofuel options, microalgae can be produced on non-arable land or in the oceans using seawater, waste or agricultural run-off water. Importantly, this reduces competition with food production and can assist with the transition from a ‘food versus fuel’ scenario to a ‘food and fuel’ future.

The potential for microalgae bioproducts extends well beyond renewable fuels. Microalgae systems are already three times more productive than sugar cane and yields can be significantly improved

beyond this. Solar-driven processes can also be used to produce high-value products such as protein therapeutics, aquaculture and livestock feeds, biofertilizers, green chemicals and water treatment eco-services. Algae systems could also be used to produce functional foods and bioplastics.

Global heating safe limits

There is no question that developing these technologies is challenging, but it is also critically important.

While we still have significant fossil fuel reserves, burning them will result in the global community greatly exceeding the global heating 'safe level' limits of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, defined during the 2015 Paris Agreement.

We are already making good progress on solar electricity generation, but electricity only constitutes~20% of global energy demand. The other 80% is provided by fuels and so without renewable fuels we have virtually no chance of staying within a 1.5°C global heating safe limit.

Much progress has been made on electric car technology. However massive amounts of fuel will remain essential for the foreseeable future, for industrial processes, aviation, shipping, heavy machinery, local transport and manufacturing processes.

Driving global change

Despite their ecological and social advantages, algae production processes must prove economically viable to secure commercial buy-in and product development.

Across the entire algal fuel production process, we need to scale-up and evaluate algal systems, model and optimize system efficiency and commercialize proactively to ensure global economic, social and environmental benefit.

Current best practice solar-driven, algae-based renewable diesel is ~2-3 times the price of commercial diesel. However, through our integrated techno-economic and life-cycle analysis modelling we have identified viable paths to deliver renewable diesel at about $1 per litre using current or near-market technologies, reducing the product costs to assist commercialization.

To unlock the economic benefit of renewable, algae-based fuels, political support and industry engagement are required to move forward and bring certainty to the market.Governments need to respond more quickly to the concerns increasingly expressed by ordinary people over the now well-understood science of global heating.

It’s clear that the changes needed to combatglobal heatingwill require some industries to change or shrink, while other new industries will spring up. Political issues of jobs and economic resources are inevitable, but must be faced. Meanwhile, great opportunities exist for new jobs and industries that will offer solutions, not problems. Politicians with vision can take a wider, bipartisan perspective on the good of their countries, develop fact-based policy, reduce anxiety and bring their people to understand what is needed to address global heating while building a better future.

Rapid development of renewable fuel systems is one critical aspect of keeping global heating within the ‘safe zone’, and needs support at all levels of government.