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Researchers of the Kelp Biofuel Project, a collaboration between USC’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies and La Cañada-based Marine BioEnergy, are investigating the potential of kelp for large-scale cultivation. Grown at industrial scale, the plant could become a source of food and fuel, providing an eco-friendly alternative to crude oil.
Kelp is already grown for food on a smaller scale in many Asian and some European countries. Some, like Norway, have also started to experiment with kelp-based fuel production.
“The U.S. is actually lagging far behind in seaweed cultivation, for any purpose, even though we certainly have the personnel with expertise, the technology, the resources,” Diane Kim, has a doctorate in biology and is the project’s lead scientist, said.
‘Kelp elevator’ study shows promise for producing biofuel from giant seaweed
Scientist’s at USC Dornsife’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies take the first steps in showing that kelp could provide a more environmentally friendly, sustainable source of fuel.
[3¾ min read time]
March 2, 2021
A diver attaches seaweed to a prototype of a device called the “kelp elevator.” Raising and lowering kelp on the elevator accelerates its growth, proving the potential for mass-produced seaweed to power vehicles with biofuel harvested from the ocean. (Photo: David Ginsburg.)
Biofuels that power cars, jet airplanes, ships and big trucks come primarily from corn and other mass-produced farm crops. But researchers at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, headquartered at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, have looked to the ocean for what could be an even better biofuel crop: seaweed.
Week in Tech: Creating Biofuel With an Elevator for Kelp architectmagazine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from architectmagazine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
USC study shows promising potential for giant-kelp-based biofuel with depth-cycling approach
Scientists at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies on Santa Catalina Island, working with private industry, report that a new aquaculture technique on the California coast significantly increases kelp growth, yielding four times more biomass than natural processes.
The researchers used a depth-cycling approach i.e., physically moving the macroalgae between deep nutrient-rich water at night and shallow depths within the photic zone during the day to optimize growth. An open-access paper on their work appears in the journal
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
This study tested the effects of depth-cycling on the growth, morphology, and chemical composition of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, a target species for renewable biomass production. Giant kelp grown under depth-cycling conditions had an average growth rate of 5% per day and produced four times more biomass
USC Scientists May Have Unlocked Kelp s Potential as a Major Biofuel Source – Advanced BioFuels USA advancedbiofuelsusa.info - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from advancedbiofuelsusa.info Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.