What type of organism acquires carbon from CO2 and energy from light or inorganic molecules?

The correct choice identifies an organism known as an autotroph, which is capable of synthesizing its own organic compounds from carbon dioxide (CO2) in the environment. Autotrophs utilize either light energy, in the case of photoautotrophs, or inorganic molecules, in the case of chemoautotrophs, to drive the processes of carbon fixation and energy acquisition.

This characteristic distinguishes autotrophs from heterotrophs, which rely on consuming other organic material for both carbon and energy. Photosynthesizers are a subset of autotrophs that specifically use sunlight to drive the production of glucose and other carbohydrates, but the term does not capture all autotrophic processes, especially those that do not involve sunlight, like certain bacteria that oxidize inorganic substances for energy. Omnivores, meanwhile, are organisms that consume a variety of foods, including both plants and animals, but do not play a role in carbon fixation or energy generation in the same way autotrophs do.

Therefore, autotrophs uniquely possess the ability to tap into inorganic sources of carbon and energy, laying a foundational role in ecosystems by forming the base of food webs.