With photosynthesis, algae do not produce the great quantities of the lipids needed to make biofuels or butter substitute. Producers like Solazyme are suppressing photosynthesis by raising algae in the dark. Instead of providing sunshine and carbon dioxide, growers are feeding algae sugar which is converted into oil. This negates many of the environmental benefits of algae because sugarcane, corn or sugar beets need to feed algae require land, water and energy to produce. UCLA bimolecular engineer James Liao says that, instead of raising lipid-rich algae in darkened fermentation tanks, producers should grow protein-rich photosynthetic algae that can be fed to microorganisms that produce ethanol.