Since humans have realized that industrialism has begun to seriously damage the environment, we have been searching for sustainable, clean energy. Fossil fuels, when burned, emit greenhouse gases which contribute to a process which slowly causes the average temperature of the Earth to rise. Currently, the average temperature is rising about 0.07°C a year. Many people have been experimenting with different, cleaner fuels, but there are drawbacks to many. The discovery of algae being used for fuel could be a huge advancement to our knowledge and steps toward a cleaner future. There is a type of algae that can turn into oil which contains “medium chain fatty acids.” When you deoxygenate the oil, it produces a substance like kerosene. This substance can be used for fuel.
This relates to engineering because people have used engineered tools to study the algae, the algae could be chemically altered or engineered, and engineers might use the algae-fuel in the future to power cars and other machinery.
You can find more information about the algae biofuel here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent-travel/2008/09/08/its_wheels_up_for_algae_fuel/
