AT-SEA seaweed textiles enable high-yield, large scale seaweed cultivation
In Ireland, the AT~SEA project, in partnership with Oceanfuel, has developed advanced textiles that allow easy, mechanized cultivation of floating seaweed farms. The textile allows for high yields at a large scale, up to 16kg of wet seaweed per square meter. This is three to five times the yield of traditional seaweed farming.
AT-SEA is a collaboration of seven companies and four research centers, funded by the EU, aimed at utilizing these textiles to create a multi-billion euro industry in ERuope.
The textiles are suitable for large, 1 mm-thin mats on which seaweed plants grow few meters below the ocean suface. The textiles can support large numbers of plants without breaking up or attracting unwanted plants or mollusks.
Ireland has long been a hub for seaweed development. The EU has previously funded seaweed projects to produce biodiesel through the Mabfuel project. Seaweed biofuels have been demonstrated to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to other biofuel feedstocks.
Category: Fuels
