Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The proposed tasks to be conducted with support from the Keeling Curve Prize are part of a larger project to address the disconnect between the proven technological potential of microalgae and its limited market penetration to date. The project was formed via the efforts of Dr. Siedenburg to assemble a team to embrace this challenge, and it reflects a shared sense that this research is timely and could be socially important. Specifically, microalgae is well-suited to helping address looming concerns about population growth, hunger, climate change and biodiversity loss, so efforts to ‚ unlock‚ its potential are needed.

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

The project is not itself an organisation, but the university where the core project team is based has a strong institutional commitment to gender diversity. Moreover, the department to which the two core researchers belong is the School of International Development, whose remit is to foster economic development in the developing world. 

The key aim of the various microalgae field projects whose work will be examined is to foster the economic development of local communities. In most cases, this includes a focus on marginalised groups, so taken together the projects foster economic empowerment and poverty reduction. Most of these projects also include a strong commitment to gender equality. 

The proposed research would likewise show a strong commitment to gender equality and economic development. On gender, it would explicitly examine the gender dimensions of linkages between microalgae and climate change, such as ways in which microalgae use might facilitate gender-based tasks like fuel provision despite climate change. Similarly, it would explicitly flag ways that taking account of such linkages could support economic development.

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