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More than 45,000 years ago, by the shore of present-day Tasmania, a local person picked up a large piece of thick, dark brown seaweed. Its impervious tissue and resilient flexibility sparked an idea, and they realised that this giant piece of seaweed could solve one of the day's nagging problems. The piece of kelp was fashioned into a small rubbery bag, its edges perforated with a stick to give it structure, and plant fibres twisted around the stick to make a handle. From then on, the kelp was used as a versatile water carrier.
The Aboriginal peoples of Australia were some of the first seaweed innovators in the world. And 45,000 years later on mainland Australia, people are again turning to algae to solve pressing problems. Today, it is not how to get water from A to B, but how to address the world's climate crisis. And in several large open-air bubbling green vats at an industrial complex in Nowra, New South Wales, Pia Winberg is exploring exactly how.
Winberg, a marine ecologist at the University of Wollongong, has spent decades studying seaweed. She believes seaweed's fast growth rate and ability to absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide can help fight climate change, deacidify the oceans, and change the way we farm, not just in the oceans but also on land. In short, Winberg believes averting the worst of climate change will involve growing more seaweed – much more. (Find out more about the potential of seaweed in our video on BBC Reel)
Globally, seaweeds are thought to sequester nearly 200 million tonnes of CO2 every year – as much as New York State's annual emissions
"If we used the infrastructure we have in the ocean and created seaweed islands, we would actually eliminate a lot of the climate change issues we have today," says Winberg.
Giant kelp, which washes up on beaches in Tasmanian waters, is one species with immense potential to sink carbon
(Credit: Getty Images)
Realising seaweed's potential as a climate solution, Winberg opened Australia's first land-based, commercial seaweed farm in 2013. On her farm in New South Wales, Winberg produces seaweed extracts that are used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. If seaweed farming is scaled up, algae could replace plastic packaging and common animal feeds such as corn, according to Winberg.
"Seaweeds are a platform of opportunity, in sustainability, nutrition and innovation," she says.
The power of kelp
Despite its ancient history of making use of seaweed, cultivation of these algae is still in its infancy in Australia. The first cultivation of seaweed began in Japan in the 1670s and commercial farming took off in the 1950s. British marine scientist Kathleen Drew Baker's discoveries while studying the red algae porphyra led to a revolution in how an edible type of seaweed called nori was farmed in Japan. Today the seaweed is widely used in sushi, salads and soup.
Since then, seaweed farming has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry in Asia, with China producing over half of the continent's harvest each year. Now seaweed farming is starting to gain momentum in other parts of the world, in part due to growing awareness of the species' ability to combat climate change as well as its high nutritional value and fast growth. Besides its sustainability credentials, seaweed is cheap, easy to harvest and available worldwide, making it an attractive commercial proposition.
Forty-eight million sq km of the world's oceans are suitable for seaweed cultivation – an area about six times the size of Australia
Kelp is one of the most commonly farmed types of seaweed. The large, brown alga, which is found in cold, coastal marine waters around the world, grows remarkably quickly – up to 61cm (2ft) a day – and does not require fertiliser or weeding.
Like plants on land, seaweed uses photosynthesis to absorb CO2 and grow biomass. Coastal marine systems can absorb carbon at rates up to 50 times greater than forests on land, according to Emily Pidgeon, senior director of strategic marine initiatives at Conservation International. Globally, seaweeds are thought to sequester nearly 200 million tonnes of CO2 every year – as much as New York State's annual emissions. And when the algae dies, much of the carbon locked up in its tissues is transported to deep oceans.
long post continues at: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210406-how-kelp-can-help-solve-climate-change
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