RI SEAWEED will address this by creating a world-leading research infrastructure for seaweed science and technology.
The infrastructure will be an instrumental contribution to a green shift and future value creation through its support to long-term research. Cultivation of the oceans is a key requirement for future sustainable and efficient utilisation of the ocean resources required to meet demands for food, feed, materials, and energy for a growing global population.
Norway, with one of the world's longest coastlines, can take a leading role. Recent work in the RCN-funded Knowledge Platform MACROSEA led by SINTEF suggests that Norway has a massive potential to cultivate a wide variety of seaweeds and develop new bioeconomy. The ongoing RCN-funded Knowledge Platform Norwegian Seaweed Biorefinery Platform headed by NTNU will advance research on processing and product development to unlock this potential.
RI SEAWEED will contribute to advance basic and applied seaweed research by providing a holistic value-chain approach offering equipment and interdisciplinary knowledge hubs with top engineers and scientific personnel at SINTEF and NTNU. The infrastructure has drawn great interest from more than 30 potential national and international users of its novel technology to streamline seaweed cultivation and utilization and demonstrate profitable solutions with carbon offset routes.
RI SEAWEED will be in line with national and European strategies for marine research and the ambitions of the High-level panel for a sustainable ocean economy, which identifies seaweed cultivation as an opportunity for a new blue bioeconomy that supports sustainable growth and movement towards a low-emissions society. Accordingly, RI SEAWEED will contribute to meet several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the targets set by the Paris Agreement.