ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS REVIEWDECEMBER 20258 OPINIONIN MYIn response, Levy founded AECOM's algae practice--pioneering solutions to harvest algae, recover nutrients, and convert pollution into renewable fuels and fertilizers. He also created the Blue Cycle framework, a model for integrating nature-based systems into modern infrastructure that is gaining traction across the environmental sector as a blueprint for scalable, regenerative water and carbon solutions. Collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Levy is advancing a breakthrough hydrothermal liquefaction program to transform biosolids and other organic waste into renewable fuels--including sustainable aviation fuel--and valuable resources for a circular economy.Recognizing Levy's decades of expertise in hydrogeology and environmental innovation, this profile highlights his shift from remediation to regeneration. His work spearheads algae-based solutions, advances hydrothermal liquefaction technology, all converging in the Blue Cycle framework- a holistic regenerative model that transforms pollution into renewable fuels, sustainable infrastructure and valuable resources for a resilient circular economy.The Evolving Role of Algae in Climate ActionAs a geologist, I often look back to our planet's earliest chapters ­ when algae stood as Earth's original climate engine, shaping the very conditions that made life possible. Long before trees existed, algae captured carbon and produced oxygen. Even today, they pull CO from the atmosphere, extract nutrients from waterways and lock them into biomass, a service that's becoming increasingly vital as a growing population accelerates nutrient runoff and carbon emissions. Left unchecked, that biomass decomposes and releases methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. This "doing nothing" cycle By Dan Levy, Vice President, AECOMHARNESSING THE POWER OF ALGAE FOR CHANGEDan Levy has spent more than thirty years turning environmental challenges into opportunities. A hydrogeologist by training, he began his career in the late 1980s restoring contaminated sites and waterways. But Florida's 2016 Harmful Algal Bloom crisis shifted his focus from remediation to regeneration. Dan Levy
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