Stefan Kraan
The Seaweed Company Blue Turtle, R&D Unit Carnmore, Oranmore, Galway, Ireland
The Oceans are of crucial importance for human survival and hence the Blue Economy concept has been established. Nevertheless, global warming and overfishing threaten Earth’s largest habitat, not to mention the plastic crisis. Phytoplankton responsible for about 50% of the oxygen in our atmosphere also sequesters carbon by sinking (when dead) to the deep sea, making phytoplankton an important actor in Earth’s climate system. Lately, macroalgae have entered the mix, with wild promises of farming, upscaling, and climate solutions by sequestering CO2. Indeed, seaweed cultivation can capture more than what a rain forest will do, making it a good candidate for carbon capture. But carbon capture is not sequestering rather it is transfercation, moving CO2 from one source to the next till it gets released again. Sinking seaweed to the deep sea? We have little understanding of what will happen and all very much dependant on species grown, geographical location, currents and on top using fossil fuels to move the biomass. A lot of factual incorrect statements have been used lately and large amount of money invested on false promises. No standard equation exists for carbon off setting using seaweed and a lot more data and scientific insight is needed. If we scale up cultivation, why not use the biomass for a sustainable polysaccharide industry, compared to fossil fuel polymers industry and tackling issues like our plastics problem creating biodegradable plastics. All coming back to my old mantra; we have to move from a hydrocarbon to a carbohydrate society.