Category: World Touch

A report released by the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the Fourth Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that took place in Istanbul, Turkey in early May expressed a strong critique of the snail’s pace of development. The report, entitled “Growth, Employment and Decent Work in the Least Developed Countries,” solidified widespread fears that the “graduation” rate of LDCs was abysmally low, with only three countries out of 51 – the Maldives, Botswana and Cape Verde – moving out of the category since it was created by the United Nations in 1970.

At a time when most conventional fuels cast ever longer shadows of unintended consequences, algae – that lowly pond scum – offers a pleasant surprise: a near-term, low-tech alternative with apparently few of the hidden costs of more elaborate, expensive and exploitive energy sources, writes Mark Sommer.* The first, simplest, and fastest-growing life form, algae holds unheralded promise to become a pivotal resource for the planet’s future as the basis for a high-quality biodiesel that doesn’t (like corn) siphon food from humans. And it’s not just a fuel. It’s animal feed, human food (think spirulina), and the building block for a wide range of biodegradable bio-plastics to replace petroleum-based plastics. And algae does all this as it grows by absorbing enormous amounts of CO2 – the very greenhouse gas we most urgently need to reduce.