there are 3 sources of energy on the surface of earth:

• energy from inside earth (geological heat)
• energy from the moon (tides can make water go up and down -> generates energy)
• energy from the sun (and hypothetically, other stars)

so, the thing is that earth’s internal heat generates 0.03% of the energy on the surface of Earth (source) while i couldn’t find any numbers for the moon (so i guess it’s too low to mention). so basically everything comes from the sun.

and this is true for living beings. living beings can live off the sun’s energy (photosynthesis) or they don’t, in which case they’re utilizing Earth’s internal processes (volcanoes, …) as an energy source.

basically all life was dependent on energy from inside the Earth before photosynthesis was developed, which is severely restricted. this is why this is such a big breakthrough.

They were the first life forms to alter their atmosphere extensively enough to wipe themselves out. There will be a second soon.

Life became much better for algae. So yes.