Seaweed Education
Dive In
In this course, we’ll review what seaweed is and then investigate its potential as a carbon sink and a means to decarbonize our economy. We’ve pulled some of our favorite articles and videos from the web.
Feel free to start at the beginning, or click on any topic that’s interesting to you.
Content overview
L1: Seaweed – an overview
In this first module, you will learn the basics about seaweed.
Seaweeds: Plants or Algae?
Description: A short introduction to what seaweed is.
Time requirement: 3 min
What is seaweed?
Website: Youtube
Description: A deeper dive into the categorization of seaweeds.
Time requirement: 9 min
Seaweed and Algal Q and A
Website: The seaweed site
Description: Answers to the most common questions around algae and seaweed.
Time requirement: 3 min
Seaweed | In The Field
Website: Youtube
Description: Where to find green, red and brown seaweed in coastal environments.
Time requirement: 5 min
L2: Seaweed as a climate solution
Through the process of photosynthesis seaweed is capable of sequestrating CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in its biomass. In this second module, we will learn how this characteristic makes seaweed a potentially crucial piece in the puzzle of climate change solutions.
Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)
Description: A short introduction to the ocean’s role in climate change mitigation, giving a perspective on where seaweed cultivation fits into the bigger picture.
Time requirement: 5 min
Macroalgal Cultivation
Description: A short overview of how seaweed can help mitigate climate change through different pathways.
Time requirement: 6 min
Can seaweed help curb global warming?
Description: A very passionate case by Tim Flannery on how seaweed could contribute to climate change mitigation on a large scale.
Time requirement: 14 min
Can Seaweed Farming Play a Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation?
Website: Frontiers
Description: A more scientific deep-dive into the potential of seaweed as a climate solution.
Time requirement: 13 min
Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
Website: Dynamic Planet
Description: A comparison of seaweed cultivation with other marine ecosystem pathways for climate change mitigation.
Time requirement: 30 min (Read only pp. 47-57).
L3: Seaweed and carbon dioxide removal
One of the two main pathways through which seaweed can help fight climate changes is as an organic carbon sink. In this third module, we will learn which technologies are already developed or under way to store carbon captured by seaweed long-term and which role carbon credits play to scale up these solutions.
Taking carbon farming out to sea
Description: How no-harvest seaweed cultivation works.
Time requirement: 5 min
Maine Startup Aims To Pull Carbon Out Of The Atmosphere By Growing - And Then Sinking - Kelp Farms
Description: A short article about Running Tide, a startup working on cultivating kelp at large scale and then sinking it to the bottom of the ocean.
Time requirement: 6 min
Biochar from commercially cultivated seaweed for soil amelioration
Description: Transformed into biochar and applied to soils, seaweed has a huge potential as a carbon sink.
Time requirement: 12 min
In the quest for carbon offsets, (almost) anything goes
Website: GreenBiz
Description: Introduction to what carbon credits are and how to distinguish between emission avoidance and carbon removal.
Time requirement: 11 min
Oceans 2050 Leads Global Effort to Quantify Seaweed Carbon Sequestration
Website: 3BLMEDIA
Description: A summary of what research is needed to make seaweed carbon credits fly.
Time requirement: 4 min
L4: Seaweed and emission reduction
Apart from a carbon dioxide removal solution, seaweed cultivation also has great potential to help decarbonize the economy. In this forth module, we’ll learn about the wide array of products that can be produced from seaweed, all of them with the potential to substitute a more carbon-intensive alternative.
Seaweed uses and utilization
Website: The Seaweed Site
Description: A very brief introduction into the different applications of seaweed.
Time requirement: 2 min
Why Demand For Seaweed Is About To Boom
Website: CNBC Youtube
Description: An overview on seaweed markets with a historic perspective.
Time requirement: 16 min
Why is seaweed in food? | Seaweed Part 2
Website: The Abyss Youtube
Description: A deep-dive into edible seaweeds.
Time requirement: 7 min
Pros and Cons: Seaweed for biofuel
Description: Summary of the main arguments in favor and against using macroalgae for bioenergy production.
Time requirement: 8 min
Biorefinery of marine macroalgae into high‑tech bioproducts: a review
Description: An academic review on what different seaweed compounds could be used for.
Time requirement: 50 min
Blue Ocean Barns Seaweed Supplement Makes Cows Burp Less, Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Description: Adding seaweed to cattle feed can help reduce methane emissions.
Time requirement: 6 min
L5: Growing seaweed
This final module of the course focuses on the state of the global seaweed industry and growing seaweed in practice. Do you want to set up your own seaweed farm and wonder how to source the seedlings? Do you want to get an overview of all of the possible cultivation technologies? Then this is the module for you to take!
The Seaweed Project
Description: A great documentary on seaweed farming and processing in both Europe and Asia.
Time requirement: 45 min
The Evolution Road of Seaweed Aquaculture: Cultivation Technologies and the Industry 4.0
Website: MDPI
Description: A easily comprehensible academic overview of seaweed cultivation technologies.
Time requirement: 20 min (Read only pp. 9-14)
Seaweed cultivation manual
Website: NAFC Marine Center
Description: A comprehensive manual containing all the information you need to know to set up your own seaweed farm.
Time requirement: 90 min
How to set up a seaweed farm
Website: Ethical pages podcast
Description: Insightful podcast with Meg, who helped set up a seaweed farm in Wales.
Time requirement: 1 h 7 min
The global status of seaweed production, trade and utilization
Website: FAO
Description: All facts and numbers on the global seaweed industry
Time requirement: 11 min (Read only pp. 1-6)
2 Panel on Seaweed Cultivation: Opportunities and Challenge
Description: A deep-dive into what is required for seaweed cultivation at scale. The panel covers anything from challenges with specific business models to risks associated with supporting technologies.
Time requirement: 91 min
Artificial upwelling
Description: All important facts on artificial upwelling – a technology that has the potential to boost seaweed production.
Time requirement: 4 min
*For more great education on climate change, check out Climate Change Academy.
*For more specific information on sustainable seaweed farming, check out GenialG.