E!6027 Offshore Cultivation of Seaweed

WP1: Site Selection ACHIEVEMENTS: Three concession application were submitted to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries on 30 August 2013. It was applied for (1) Sea license in Frøya 33 ha (2) Sea license in Frøya 32 ha and (3) Hatchery license in Trondh eim. A formal comment has been sent to Frøya municipality on the proposed new coastal zone plan in Sør-Trøndelag county. The economic potential of the emerging seaweed industry has been highlighted and is has been requested that seaweed cultivation is co nsidered when the new plan is developed. The environmental benefits of seaweed cultivation as well as the potential synergy with salmon aquaculture was also emphasized. In Portugal, and although technology development and up-scaling has been shifted incr easingly to Norway, as indicated above. On the other hand the practicality of obtaining concessions and clear long-term commitments for operating in Portuguese waters are considered to be too uncertain for the early status of seaweed farming. Sporadic tes ting supported by the Portuguese local Port Authorities will be continued, and SES continues to consider applying for a test site in small scale for the season 2014/2015. WP2: Seeding & Nursery ACHIEVEMENTS: Seeding protocols are now established by th e different partners, as well as the seeding method of the Seaweed Carriers. Research into gametophyte reproduction, is being carried out by SES, CIIMAR and also STOLT. All partners have developed functional protocols for production of seedlings through both the sporogenesis and gametophyte method. STOLT is producing seedlings in an outdoor system while CIIMAR is operating indoors. SES is developing novel seeding techniques and has defined suitable material and seed characteristics for improved seed atta chment. WP3: Engineering the Seaweed Carrier Material ACHIEVEMENTS: A first generation Seaweed Carrier material to serve as a substitute of the plant?s natural substrate has been successfully tested. The product's current cost is however, higher than the target unit price, although bulk price will be remarkably lower, the additional efforts of handling the carriers will only justify in very large-scale projects / operations, will justify the efficiency by lowering the labor requirements needed for rop e applications. SES deployed two full size carriers during March 2013, another two additional carriers were deployed in April, and three were deployed for autumn. In January 2014, the final three carriers will be deployed. WINDS has performed a material search based on material characteristics defined by SES and 4 carrier prototypes were fabricated and supplied to SES for field testing. SES and WINDS held a follow-up workshop meeting on September 4, to agree on the priorities for the remaining project pe riod, as well as discussing commercial-scale orders for the post-project period. WP4: Structural Rig & Mooring After analysis of the rig damage sustained in September 2012, SES concluded that the single moored system is not the most appropriate for th e upcoming technology up-scaling phase. The analysis revealed that the site conditions at the Frøya test site are significantly rougher than originally expected. This first prototype will be redesigned, as it is considered promising for predominant curren t and high waves, further offshore. However SES decided to firstly proceed with a semi-exposed offshore solution for sites like those found at our test site in Taraskjæret (predominantly currents), and to make major changes to the rig design. This newly designed prototype is intended to be the basis for near future commercial up-scale strategy of SES cultivation operations (Patent application submitted). WP5: Deployment & Harvesting ACHIEVEMENTS: The focus on deployment and harvest methodologies has led to the development of conceptual sequences for both processes, including initial estimates for process duration and cost efficiency. The new dedicated project (MAROFF), will target on field demonstrations and future development of harvest and deploym ent processes adequate for the very large-scale operations required for seaweed-for-energy farms.

The goal in SEAWEED-STAR is to develop a cost efficient and sustainable large-scale offshore seaweed cultivation system, based on the principles of the Seaweed Carrier cultivation concept. The timing of this project is excellent and urgent. The worldwide demand for renewable transport fuel is rising rapidly and strict governmental targets are set to meet the need. Seaweed grows faster than any terrestrial plant, large areas of ocean are available, large scale farming of seaweed is proven (millions of ton s by traditional near-shore methods) and conversion to biogas and ethanol has been proven in the laboratory with reasonable yields. Marine biomass presents no conflict with food supplies, land use changes and demand for fresh water. Seaweed has a great po tential as feedstock for Bio-Fuel production around the world. SES was created to address this challenge. Traditionally, all seaweed cultivation is done using ropes in various combinations. "Why ropes?" Ropes have been around for centuries and it was onl y natural for the first seaweed farmers to use this as the material of choice, to grow seaweed on. For industrial scale offshore cultivation however, it would make more sense to grow seaweeds on large carriers of a specific material, and the Seaweed Carr ier is our proposed solution. The patented Seaweed Carrier is the cornerstone of this project. It represents a step innovation over seaweed cultivation methods that have all been based on ropes. It can be seen as an example of bio-mimicry - the Seaweed C arrier is designed mimicking nature's own approach to ensure survivability in the open ocean, developed over millions of years. The carrier moves in the water as a large seaweed - swinging freely back and forth depending on the strength of the waves and t he currents. It can be moored in deeper more exposed water, has few moving parts, allows for easy deployment and harvesting and there is no risk of mammal entanglement.