Ocean Energy from Macroalgae

Default ARPA-E Project Image

Program:
MARINER
Award:
$2,206,703
Location:
Washington, District Of Columbia
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
07/02/2018 - 09/30/2022
Website:

Technology Description:

Fearless Fund will lead a MARINER Category 1 project to design and develop a new system to enable large-scale macroalgae “ranching” using remote sensing, imaging, and modeling technologies. The core concept targets monitoring free-floating, low-impact Sargassum seaweed in the Gulf of Mexico for cost-effective biomass harvest. Fearless Fund’s cultivation process is designed to mimic naturally occurring seaweed mats found at the surface of the ocean. The concept leverages the free-floating nature of Sargassum, reducing costs from labor, seeding, and harvesting normally associated with seaweed farming. Fearless Fund will investigate the potential to artificially “seed” circular currents found in the Gulf of Mexico with Sargassum cuttings. The team envisions that Sargassum could be ranched within Gulf currents, where it can grow to maturity at a predicted rate. The circular current transports the crop closer to shore at the projected time of harvest, which is calculated based on historical data. Remote sensing technologies will be used to monitor the crop over a three month cultivation season before harvesting the new crop with barges and tug boats after the uninterrupted initial growing period. By improving these methods and leveraging the wealth of data generated from a suite of sensors, the team hopes that industrial-scale farming of macroalgae can be achieved without capital-intensive infrastructure.

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:
Alyson Myers
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
alysonmyers1@gmail.com

Partners

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory

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
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) - Spatial Planning and Entanglement Simulations to Support for Macroalgae Aquaculture Development in California
• 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) - Adjustable Depth Seaweed Growth System
• University of Southern Mississippi (USM) - SeaweedPaddock Pelagic Sargassum Ranching
• 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:
12/16/2016