Seaweed could be scaled as a climate solution and turned into food, pharmaceuticals and bioenergy, according to a new study.
The study by investors Craig Douglas, who is a partner at Europe’s leading climate tech VC, World Fund, and Ross Brooks, a partner and investment director, ocean, at Katapult VC, argues that seaweed presents an extensive opportunity by displacing fossil fuel-based products and carbon sequestration.
The study says seas cover 70% of the surface area of the planet and ocean-based climate solutions provide enormous potential to scale.
Research has shown seaweed can hold around 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and has sequestered about 30% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
But is also warns ocean-based methods for CO2 removal have so far been under-explored. Although European startups are finally making progress, notably in approaches and solutions centring on macroalgae, also known as seaweed.
The report argues near-term solutions include using seaweed to help displace fossil-based products, such as in the creation of bioplastics and bioenergy.
And seaweed could also be widely utilised as a food source, and as animal feed to reduce methane emissions from livestock farming.
The study also a science-based exploration into the opportunity to sink seaweed.
It also predicts in Europe alone, the bio-stimulant market could be worth up to €1.8 billion and bio-packaging up to €1.3 billion by 2030.
And the study also argues there are numerous co-benefits in terms of scaling up the planting and farming of seaweed.
For example, it can act as an important habitat for other forms of marine life and it can also absorb excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water in which it grows.
In an interview, Brooks said in the past, the oceans have been “out of sight and out of mind” when it comes to the environment, but seaweed is a highly versatile crop, which “can go a long way to fixing our current resource and climate challenges”.
And Douglas added in the long-term, the potential from the carbon sequestration side is “astronomically high” and seaweed could prove to be one of the largest carbon sinks on the planet.
“It’s a case of putting this opportunity into terms the mass market already understands. This is ocean investment,” added Brooks.
“We are investing into new energy infrastructure, new food infrastructure and water infrastructure.”
“We need to meet undergo a huge industrial transition and we are not going to cut it really by following a typical venture route. We need to create a different route to scale and build new infrastructure,” Brooks told me.
Ross added “we are really just at the tip of the iceberg” in terms of our understanding around seaweed, with research into new and existing strains unlocking improved resiliency, growth, yield consistency and improved composition for end market applications.
“We are looking at a number of different innovations coming together over the next next two years, which will really bolster the consistency of yields, the quality and the properties of the seaweed for whatever you are trying to try to grow it for,” he said.
“For example, if we can get to 20,000 square kilometres squared of kelp planted, that is potentially 50 million tonnes of carbon sequestered, if you take into account sedimentation, and turn it into biochar.
“The volume opportunity is huge, and we’re no-where near even starting to scale in Europe and North America.”
