The Ocean and Her Forest: Exploring Algae as a Valuable Climate Change Mitigation Tool
Our trusty ocean. Always there for us, in all of her abundant glory. She has been by our side while we create greenhouse gas emitting factories and products, leading to global warming, pollution and other ecological imbalances. In fact, one third of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide (the most harmful greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, which has in turn, steadily slowed the earth’s overall heating. In other words, we are very lucky to not be living in deserted, arid land with our skin frying just yet, mostly thanks to our glorious ocean.
Consequently, absorbing so much of our carbon dioxide has resulted in the warming of the ocean, which has been accelerating rapidly since the 1950s. Being warmer, our mystical, life-giving ocean is now facing coral bleaching, acidification, as well as drowning wetlands and coastal breakdown due to sea level rise. This has ultimately led to harmed marine life, damaged ecosystems and dwindling economic security for communities who rely on aquaculture. Additionally, the warming ocean threatens the livelihoods of those who live near the world’s coastlines, as sea levels inevitably rise.
The use of fossil fuels and natural gas as energy sources is a major factor holding us back from building a deeply flourishing, harmonious and thriving Earth. However, the transition away from these carbon dioxide emitting sources has proven to be slow and laborious.
While governments, industries and consumers gradually evolve (although this should be happening rapidly), utilizing carbon dioxide offsetting techniques is essential in the development towards a sustainable world where we solely rely on renewable and regenerative resources. While many organizations are offering initiatives such as tree planting and other land-based projects, like methane-to-energy conversion to offset carbon dioxide emissions, there is another powerful force on the horizon.
It may come at no surprise that once again, the ocean has our back. She has the ability to grow an incredible underwater forest of macro and micro algae, vegetation and corals that have the power to sequester carbon dioxide at a faster rate than the planet’s land forests. This has led researchers to investigate algae as a key climate change mitigation strategy.
While the majority of algae farming is currently performed in China, Korea and South-East Asia, the benefits gained by expanding on a global level could be monumental. For example, a recent study has revealed that sustainably farming seaweed in just o.oo1% of the world’s waters could neutralize global carbon dioxide emissions from the global aquaculture sector. The same study also found that sustainably farming seaweed in a mere 3.8% of the federal waters off the California coast could neutralize emissions from the state’s $50 billion agriculture industry.
In addition to carbon dioxide absorption, algae aquaculture has many other healing benefits for the ocean including:
- Counteracting ocean acidification and deoxygenation
- Cleaning the ocean as it grows (ie it can remove nitrates and phosphorus in water)
- Creating habitats for marine life
Regeneratively farmed algae also promotes clean and efficient practices because:
- Algae grows extremely quickly — within approximately 45 days — and can be harvested immediately
- No fertilizers or pesticides are needed for algae growth (unlike terrestrial farming)
- No fresh water is needed
- Agricultural land is not at risk of being displaced
It is also exceptionally nutritionally beneficial to eat or supplement with different kinds of algae, like nori, wakame, kombu chlorophyll and spirulina, as they are filled with essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and proteins. For example, one sheet of nori has as much fiber as a cup of raw spinach, while containing omega-3s, calcium, protein, copper and magnesium, and more. Harnessing new technology, US-based company, iWi and Thailand-based company, EnerGaia, have created closed-loop farming systems to produce high quality spirulina supplements.
Additionally, an early study has shown that the methane produced by livestock could be significantly reduced if seaweed was added to their feed. This is important because methane is a potent byproduct of grazing livestock and a threatening greenhouse gas.
Farming algae can also uplift coastal communities, as it provides a steady income source, while also repairing the quality of local waters and boosting the ecology of the area.
There is a lot of innovation bubbling up too, as we can use sustainably-farmed algae for a variety of consumer products that have historically been made from plastic; from single-use cups, to sachets, foams and textile fibers. Derived from a natural super plant, products made from algae can provide an array of health benefits during use, and can also fully biodegrade at end-of-life. Below is a list of some of the companies that are creatively working with algae to combat fossil-fuel reliance and are spearheading the “new plastics”, circular economy:
Single use plastic replacements:
- Evoware (sachets and cups)
- Notpla (sachets and water bottles)
- Loliware (straws)
- AMAM (packaging/shipping protection)
Synthetic (plastic) textile fiber replacements:
Another exciting endeavor is exploring algae as biofuel, thereby potentially replacing petroleum and gas in certain use-cases. Although the production of algae fuel has historically not been able to economically compete with our conventional, polluting sources, the time to make it accessible to market is ripe. Researchers for the oil and gas giant, Exxon, are attempting to achieve this by investigating algae fuel for its scalability and optimization potential.
While there still needs to be more research and technological development in the algae aquaculture space, the sector holds a lot of promise in repairing the ocean from the effects of global warming, sequestering carbon dioxide, empowering local communities, replacing plastic items, providing a clean fuel source, and more.
The ocean is powerful, yet patient and giving. Through conscious, regenerative practices in algae aquaculture, we can help ourselves by helping her, too.