Algae is a group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. They carry polysaccharides including starch, sugar, and cellulose. When fermented, these polysaccharides break down and release alcohols, or bioethenol for our purposes. Algae with higher amounts of starch produce higher amounts of ethanol. To yield higher starch levels, we decided to ferment the algae with sugars in order to produce high bioethenol amounts.

Bioethenol can be produced from cereals and other legumes such as cereal, corn, sugar beets, wheat, and barley. However, because of algae's photosynthetic capabilities, it is a great renewable source for ethanol via fermentation. This is because it can absorb excess carbon dioxide while also fueling the vehicles that produce such greenhouse gases. Also, algae has great yields of polysaccharides, and it is easier to break them down and ferment them for bioethenol

A company based in California called Solazyme were pioneers of heterotrophic growth of algae. They would grow feedstocks in the dark and feed them sugars. Since algae is photosynthetic, it requires sunlight to reproduce and create its nutrition source. However, when deprived of sunlight, the only alternative food source is nutrient-rich sugars found in the environment. By depriving our algae of sunlight and feeding them sugars, we force the organism to feed off of said sugars and turn them to oil then biomass or alcohols.

The purpose of using algae rather than other ethanol sources was because of its unique properties. Although burning ethanol fuels would still create greenhouse gases, emissions are lowered. Either way, by using the photosynthetic properties of algae, we can rejuvenate the very atmosphere still being polluted, but at a smaller scale. This serves a double-benefit. Also, the fact that algae needs little resources to thrive such as soil and continuous water supply, it makes it more reliable and efficient.