What role for seaweeds in the fertiliser crisis?
Before getting to the news of the past few weeks, a somewhat longer first story than usual about fertilisers and Sargassum mariculture. Comments welcome.
How to get off the Haber-Bosch carousel?
Our planetary society is in a fertiliser crisis. The Haber-Bosch process is responsible for 1% of global CO2 emissions, while fixating 100 billion tonnes of N2 per year more than biological processes can return to the atmosphere, with all the ensuing consequences (oceanic dead zones, dying peat bogs, hole in the ozone layer, …).
On top of that, because of the energy-hungry nature of the Haber-Bosch process, the recent spike in energy prices has made fertilisers less affordable. Millions more will go hungry in 2022.
In an attempt to get off this road to nowhere, the Sri Lankan government decided to stop importing chemical fertilisers this year and instead ordered 99 000 tonnes of seaweed fertiliser from China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech. However, the fertiliser never made it off the boat, as an inspection revealed it was contaminated with a pathogenic Erwinia bacteria.
Growing even more Sargassum to fill the gaps
Using pests as fertiliser seems like a good idea: sea urchin fertiliser trials are underway in Tasmania, and in New Zealand, Waikaitu uses invasive wakame.
Work is also underway to try and turn the Atlantic’s Sargassum problem into sustainable soil nourishment.
China’s Leili was the first company to harvest Sargassum and make fertiliser out of it. In the Caribbean, Algas Organics, Salgax, C-Combinator and Dianco México now have fertiliser or biostimulant products in the market. East African shores are also affected by Sargassum tides, but we haven’t found anyone trying to make use of the biomass there (do let us know if you know someone).
If these companies want to scale up, they have an issue though. Sargassum tides are seasonal, and their size is unpredictable. Despite the enormous quantities already suffocating beaches, paradoxically, they need to grow more to ensure a stable supply.
That’s exactly what Seafields is planning to do: grow Sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean’s subtropical gyres to stabilise the supply of harvesters in the Caribbean, and sink the remainder for carbon sequestration.
Investments and grants
Even though the plant-based food segment seems to have hit a ceiling this autumn, kelp burger startup Akua has secured a $3.2M seed round on top of its $1M crowdfunding round 6 months ago. Meanwhile, fellow Chilean kelp burger makers Quelp are in Dubai this week to convince investors (ES).
Greenwave won the $2M Food Planet Prize. They are expanding their reach with a 3-year pilot programme in New Zealand.
Blue Symbiosis, the startup looking to repurpose retired oil and gas infrastructure towards seaweed cultivation sites, has won $250K in the Xprize Student Awards.
And $2.9M was awarded to the University of Vermont to continue the research on seaweed as an ingredient in cattle feed.
Recommendations for policy makers
2 new reports for policy makers. The Nature Conservancy came out with its “Global Principles of Restorative Aquaculture“, with clear visualizations you can use in your presentations.
The GlobalSeaweedSTAR programme wrapped up after 5 years, and came out with a dire warning and 8 recommendations to ensure the long-term survival of the seaweed industry. They are not joking, it’s urgent.
Community asks
California-based seaweed bioplastics startup is looking for mentorship on the SBIR process - contact Rose or Kim.
For a new Scottish seaweed farm design: who can provide a tilt current meter (or sensor for point measurements of directional flow speed) and a pressure sensor recording at 2 Hz to measure waves (or a Bottom-mounted ADCP or AWAC)? Contact Polly.