AlgaeLink exclusively pursues projects with strong "triple bottom lines"; that is, projects with economic, social, and environmental benefits. In economic terms, projects must be profitable in order to become self-sustaining and be able to pay for the resources they consume. A significant portion of the revenue generated must stay within the community rather than be exported abroad. In social terms, projects must at a minimum provide local employment and generate sales for local suppliers. 

Ideally they will do much more: depending on the type of project, employees and their families may have opportunities for education and health care that were previously unavailable in their communities. Those who deal with the project as suppliers may gain access to markets or communications facilities that help them further develop their own businesses independently of AlgaeLink, and the presence of a successful enterprise in an area where none existed before may make the community eligible to receive government-supplied benefits such as roads, electric power, and other services which often bypass rural areas.