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future?
By Adrienne MurrayTechnology of Business reporter, Faroe Islands
• 27 August 2020
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Image copyrightADRIENNE MURRAYImage captionThe cold water around the Faroe Islands is good for
seaweed cultivation
Sunshine has given way to wind and rain, as the motorboat chugs through a fjord in the Faroe
Islands.
"Its a bit windy here," says Olavur Gregarsen. "We'll see how far we can get to the harvesting boat."
We soon reach a sheltered spot where steep mountains are looking down on hundreds of buoys bobbing
in the sea.
"They are holding up a horizontal line," explains Mr Gregarsen, the managing director of Ocean
Rainforest, a seaweed producer. "At every metre another line hangs down, and that's where the seaweed
grows."
Breaking waves
Anchored to the sea floor, the cultivation rig consists of 50,000m (164,000ft) of underwater lattice-like
ropes, designed to withstand rough sea conditions.
"The main structure is 10m down. That way we avoid the largest breaking waves," he says.
Despite the Danish territory's remote North Atlantic location, Mr Gregarsen says the deep, nutrient-rich,
waters are well suited for growing seaweed, with a stable temperature of between 6C and 11C.
His firm is among a wave of seaweed farms that have sprung up in Europe and North America, spurred
by a growing demand from the food industry and others.
"You have a biomass that can be used for food and feed, and replacing fossil-based products like
packaging material from plastic," he says.
Mechanisation
Seaweeds are fast-growing algae. They utilise energy from sunlight, and take up nutrients and carbon
dioxide from the seawater. Scientists suggest seaweed could help fight climate change and offset carbon
emissions.
Ocean Rainforest recently won funding from the US Department of Energy to build a similar system in
California, where there's interest in developing industrialised seaweed production for future biofuels.
Aboard the harvesting boat the skipper controls a mechanical arm that lifts lines from the water. The
seaweed is chopped free, filling up containers. It's quick but messy work. The lines are then left to
regrow. This year around 200 tonnes will be harvested.
Image copyrightADRIENNE MURRAYImage captionOcean Rainforest recently won funding from the US
Department of Energy
But the company is scaling up, and plans to double its capacity this year. It isn't making money just yet,
but expects to soon, Mr Gregarsen tells me.
"We can see how we can mechanise this, how we can make this a really large-scale efficient activity," he
says.
"There are not many companies that do this as a profitable business, if any."
Most farmed seaweed is consumed in food, but extracts are used in a wide variety of products. Whether
it is toothpaste, cosmetics, medicines or pet food, these often contain hydrocolloids derived from
seaweed, which have gelling or thickening properties.
And more products are coming, with other firms working on textiles and plastic alternatives, including
biodegradable packaging, water capsules, and drinking straws.
Seaweed production has boomed. Between 2005 and 2015 volumes doubled, surpassing 30 million
tonnes annually, reports the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. It is a business worth more than
$6bn (£5bn) worldwide.
Yet only a fraction of cultivation happens outside Asia, where farming is a long-established, but mostly
labour-intensive activity.
To make farming economical, she says "the yield needs to go up and the cost needs to go down".
But farming systems aren't easily replicated. "Different areas in different waters, all require
modifications. There's not one solution that can be expected to fit all," says Ms Bruhn.
Image copyrightHARALD BJORGVINImage captionSeaweed uses carbon dioxide from the sea
However, she is hopeful, and says there are "many areas where you can have breakthroughs".
That is what innovators like Sintef are trying to do. The Norwegian scientific research group is working
on new technologies to streamline farming.
"Now most of the seaweed is used for food, but in the future we want to use it for fish feed, fertilisers,
biogas. We need large volumes and we need to produce much faster," says research scientist Silje
Forbord.
Dry lab
Prototype machines such as the "seaweed spinner" automatically wrap spools of seedling-carrying
threads onto lines, ready for deployment at sea.
Another concept, SPoke (Standardized Production of Kelp), consists of circular farm modules where
seaweed grows from lines radiating outwards. It is designed so a robot can move along the wheel-like
spokes - either attaching threads carrying juvenile seaweed or harvesting it.
"We've built one arm with a robot going back and forth. That has been tested in a dry lab," explains Ms
Forbord, but more investment will be needed.
Image copyrightALGAPLUSImage captionLand-based seaweed cultivation
In a series of ponds and tanks in northern Portugal, AlgaPlus is cultivating seaweed inland.
"It's a much more controlled environment," says managing director Helena Abreu, who thinks there are
more advantages compared to farming offshore.
"We maintain the temperature and everything inside the tanks," she says. "You have year-round
production."
Image copyrightALGAPLUSImage captionMs Abreu says no additives or fertilisers are used
Ms Abreu co-founded the firm after spending five years as a marine biologist in the Azores. Small, high-
value seaweeds are produced for food companies, cosmetics makers and high-end restaurants.
Innovation
Seawater from a coastal lagoon flows into fish ponds. It is then pumped through a filtration system into
tanks growing seaweed. There's also a hatchery breeding the seedlings.
These waters are rich in nitrogen, which the algae take up, mimicking nature. "We don't need to use any
additives, no fertiliser. We use water from the fish to grow our seaweed," she says.
Image copyrightALGAPLUSImage captionAlgaPlus produces small, high-value seaweeds
Ms Abreu doesn't think availability of land is a limiting factor. Former salt works and fish farms could be
repurposed, she says, pointing out there are hectares of availability in Portugal, France, Italy, Greece and
Turkey.
Onshore seaweed farming takes place in Canada and South Africa too. Micro-algae are also grown in
tank systems.
"The main bottleneck is energy cost. Working with tanks you need the pumping and the aeration to keep
the water moving," says Ms Abreu.
The firm can't survive on sales alone just yet. But Ms Abreu is convinced that the seaweed market will
continue to grow.
"It's a huge trend," she says. "Every year there's more and more companies. There are newcomers in all
steps of the value chain."