<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/massive-offshore-wind-project-to-play-host-to-floating-seaweed-farm/>
"The first commercial scale seaweed farm to be built within an offshore wind
project is set to open later this year at the 1.5GW Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ)
wind farm in the North Sea, an important milestone on the path towards
determining a seaweed farms’ potential for carbon sequestration.
Developed by North Sea Farmers, an international non-profit membership
organization for the seaweed sector, the floating seaweed farm will located
between the 139 eleven megawatt (MW) wind turbines that make up the HKZ wind
project off the coast between The Hague and Zandvoort.
The site will aim to expand seaweed cultivation by using the otherwise unused
space between turbines, and test improvements to cultivation.
Currently, many of the industries that utilise seaweed – including for use in
sushi, animal feed, cosmetics, and agricultural products such as Australia’s
homegrown Seasol-branded fertilisers – rely on imported or wild-harvested
seaweed. (Seasol is an exception, relying on sustainable harvesting and storm
cast kelp.)
North Sea Farmers believes there is more than enough room in current and future
wind farms in the North Sea to scale production to 1 million tonnes of fresh
seaweed per year by 2040 – an amount which could also lead to the sequestering
and avoidance of millions of tonnes of CO2.
Backed by funding from online retail giant Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund, the
first phase of the North Sea seaweed Farm 1 was successfully installed last
week, which saw two state-of-the-art ‘Eco-anchors’ that anchor the seaweed farm
These Eco-anchors are 13-metres in length and cover the top 2 metres with a
natural restoration substrate which can include materials such as oyster
shells, wood, or cork, and which serve as a home, shelter, and breeding ground
for marine life.
The second phase, expected to begin in mid-October, will begin to seed and
deploy seaweed nets. North Sea Farmers hopes that North Sea Farm 1 will be
operational by year’s end and that it will serve to help catalyse the scaling
up of the seaweed sector.
Once fully operational, North Sea Farm 1 will cover 5 hectares and is expected
to produce at least 6,000kg of fresh seed in its first year."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
