In high-productive areas in the Norwegian Sea, ocean seaweed farming has a biomass production potential of 10-20 000 t per km2 per year corresponding to a CO2-capture of 3-6000 t per km2 per year. The potential for carbon sequestration through seaweed farming is thus large but the actual potential needs quantification and the technology for how to keep the captured carbon out of the carbon cycle must be developed and scaled up. In accordance with the UN's High-Level panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy report, that points at seaweed farming as one of the ocean-based solutions to combat climate change, SINTEF Ocean develop scale-able technology for Seaweed-CDR as a nature-based solution for climate change mitigations.
Our approach is CDR through large-scale kelp cultivation and products or technologies that ensure long term storage of the captured carbon. We identify cultivation sites offshore, develop cultivation strategies, run cultivation trials and study the CDR-effect of passive and active sinking of kelp biomass. In collaboration with SINTEF Energy and SINTEF Industry we study how kelp biomass can be converted into storage- or energy products like biochar and BECCS.