Date: March 13
Amazon has announced that it will finance the world’s 1st commercial-scale kelp farm situated between offshore wind turbines.
The project, known as North Sea Farm 1, will be located on a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands, and is designed to test and improve algae farming methods, while also investigating its potential. to sequester carbon. This project “makes it possible to make better use of the facility’s space, using it to sequester carbon.”
About the project
This farm will be able to make the most of the free space left between the turbines of a wind farm located in the North Sea, an area where it is difficult to find suitable sites to expand algae crops. If seaweed acreage were to spread across the entire North Sea, occupying the million hectares of available wind farm space, it could potentially remove millions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year by 2040 .
The world’s first commercial-scale seaweed farm situated between offshore wind turbines
North Sea Farm 1 will set a new standard for offshore seaweed farming. This grant will provide the necessary investment to kick-start the innovation phase and build a 10-hectare seaweed farm, which is expected to produce at least 6,000 kg of fresh seaweed in its first year.
The investment will also help North Sea Farmers analyze and improve farm production performance. At the same time, scientists and researchers will be able to study the potential of seaweed farms to remove carbon from the atmosphere, and model the implications and consequences of large-scale seaweed farming. The conclusions of these studies are expected to contribute to the development of the industry. Lastly, North Sea Farm 1 and others like it will create job opportunities growing and creating products from seaweed.
“Seaweed could become a key tool in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, yet it is currently farmed on a relatively small scale in Europe,” said Zak Watts, Amazon’s Director of Sustainability in Europe. “We are delighted to fund this project, which will help to better understand how seaweed can help combat climate change.”
Source: Infoenergética
