Carbon dioxide molecules have been scientifically proven to trap and retain heat. On Earth, this emulates a greenhouse effect of letting heat energy in, but not out.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most well-known ‘greenhouse gas’, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, methane and propane. The greater the number of these heat trapping molecules that exist, the more the Earth’s temperatures will continue to rise.

Trees naturally eat carbon dioxide, but on a per tree basis, they don’t consume much, about one ton in their lifetime. In order to keep the number of heat absorbing molecules down, we need more CO2 eaters here on the Earth. French biochemist Pierre Calleja has looked to algae for an innovation to curb this molecular issue.