Design of Large Scale Macroalgae System (MacroSystem)

Default ARPA-E Project Image

Program:
MARINER
Award:
$4,056,251
Location:
SANTA BARBARA, California
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
06/09/2020 - 06/08/2023
Website:

Critical Need:

Marine macroalgae, also referred to as seaweeds or kelp, are a group of exceptionally diverse aquatic plants. Macroalgae can be found along nearly all coastlines around the globe and, in some cases, in the open ocean. They have traditionally been used for food and feed, as well as fertilizer. In 2018, the world produced approximately 32.4million wet metric tons of seaweed, primarily through highly labor-intensive farming techniques. While macroalgae production has increased six-fold over the past quarter-century, the current approaches and technologies for macroalgae “mariculture” are not capable of supporting the scale, efficiency, or production costs necessary to develop a seaweed-to-fuels industry. Dramatically increasing productivity will require significant advancements in the domestication of macroalgae and new farming technologies. To accelerate the development of critical tools and technologies, the MARINER program is supporting projects in five areas: 1) Integrated Cultivation & Harvest System Design, 2) Critical Enabling Components, 3) Computational Modeling, 4) Monitoring Tools, and 5) Breeding & Genomic Tools.

Project Innovation + Advantages:

Ocean Rainforest will use a comprehensive experimental approach to optimize the design of their novel giant kelp cultivation system. The team will conduct tests in the open ocean of several variables, including depth and length of grow lines, seeding methods, and harvest frequency. Using an array of experiments that build on themselves each year, the team will evaluate the feasibility of their cultivation system to maximize biomass production. The project team will also test several hatchery techniques to improve seeding efficiency. Under the Phase I award, the team performed initial proof-of-concept tests and a technoeconomic analysis to show the potential benefit of their proposed technologies and experimental plan. Those results indicated that the proposed technologies have the potential to reduce the cost of biomass to $80/dry metric ton.

Potential Impact:

If successful, MARINER projects strive to develop the tools needed to allow the United States to become a world leader in marine biomass production for multiple important applications, including the production of biofuels.

Security:

Production of biofuels and bioenergy from domestically produced marine biomass could ensure that the U.S. has at its disposal a scalable, domestic source of low-carbon energy supplies.

Environment:

Growing large amounts of macroalgae would not compete with land-based food crops, requires no fresh water and can be grown without the addition of energy-intensive, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Large-scale macroalgae cultivation may help reduce the negative effects of nutrient overload and ocean acidification in many coastal ocean regions.

Economy:

A domestic macroalgae industry would not only create a valuable new source of domestic energy, but also create significant new economic and employment opportunities in many waterfront communities along the U.S. coasts from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and the Pacific Islands.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Simon Freeman
Project Contact:
Javier Infante
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
javier@oceanrainforest.com

Related Projects

• C.A. Goudey & Associates - Autonomous Tow Vessels
• Catalina Sea Ranch - Design of Large Scale Macroalgae Systems
• Fearless Fund - Ocean Energy from Macroalgae
• Kelson Marine - A Validated Finite Element Modeling Tool for Hydrodynamic Loading and Structural Analysis of Ocean-Deployed Macroalgae Farms Using Open-Source Tools
• Makai Ocean Engineering - Performance and Impact of Macroalgae Farming
• Marine BioEnergy - Biofuel Production from Kelp
• Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) - Techniques for Tropical Seaweed Cultivation
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Assessing the U.S Potential of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG)-based Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)
• Ocean Era - Single Point Mooring Array for Macroalgae
• Ocean Rainforest - Design of Large Scale Macroalgae System (MacroSystem)
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Modeling for Scalable Macroalgae Production
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Nautical Offshore Macroalgal Autonomous Device
• Umaro Foods - Continuous, High-Yield Kelp Production
• University of Alaska Fairbanks - Scalable Coastal and Offshore Macroalgal Farming
• University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) - MacroAlgae Cultivation Modeling System
• University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara) - Scalable Aquaculture Monitoring System
• University of New England (UNE) - Modeling Tool for Ocean-Deployed Farms
• University of Southern Mississippi (USM) - SeaweedPaddock Pelagic Sargassum Ranching
• University of Southern Mississippi (USM) - Adjustable Depth Seaweed Growth System
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) - Genome-Wide Seaweed Studies
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Seaweed Hatchery and Selective Breeding Technologies
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Monitoring Macroalgae Using Acoustics and UUV

Release Date:
09/19/2017