Tomorrow’s products are made with seaweed because it offers sustainable and eco-friendly solutions, from nutritious foods to biodegradable packaging.
Prince Frei granted an audence to Jonatan Gerrbo, who informed the prince about the west coast-based company Nordic SeaFarm. The company is based on research by a group of marine biologists from institutions such as the University of Gothenburg and the Royal Institute of Technology. The researchers asked themselves how algae could be cultivated sustainably on a large scale, to meet the future demand for climate-smart raw materials.
Jonatan explained how research and innovation are utilized to address the technical challenges of cultivating algae in open sea environments. The company builds on established best practices for algae cultivation from producers worldwide but systematically refines procedures and adapts them for Scandinavian conditions and for responsible production on an industrial scale. One of the aims is to minimize impact on the surrounding ecosystem, so careful selection of the cultivation site is crucial. Proper placement in the environment mitigates the risk of oceanic eutrophication associated with this type of algae cultivation. Additionally, the company chooses to locate cultivation sites in areas of the ocean with gravel bottoms to avoid disturbance to other marine flora and fauna. The offshore location also provides the cultivation with a constant supply of fresh seawater, ensuring the algae are not contaminated by heavy metals.
In our region, there are approximately 400 different species of algae, each requiring very different conditions as they are genetically as diverse as land-living plants. However, algae are not “seagrasses” and not even plants, in a strict sense. They belong to a distinct order on the tree of life and reproduce through spores. Technically, all are edible but not necessarily palatable. Therefore, the company initially focused on a handful of species – Sea Lettuce (Ulva Fenestrata), Dulse (Palmaria Palmata), and Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima). Prince Frei also had the pleasure of sampling some of these: lightly smoked sugar kelp and dried sea lettuce – delicious!
Nordic SeaFarm manages the process from spore to finished product – from sowing in “nurseries” to placement in the ocean, from harvesting to drying and some processing. The spores are allowed to germinate on a thin line which is then wound up on large reels and transported out to sea. Once at the farm site off Otterön, the line is twisted around the rigging of ropes that form the cultivation site. There, the algae are allowed to grow until they are ready to be harvested. The entire process is relatively quick, and several hundred tons can be produced in a season. The raw material has a long shelf life – at least four years in dried form without losing quality.
Currently, Nordic SeaFarm delivers products to various stakeholders and takes customized requests, including from other researchers who lack the capacity to cultivate algae themselves. Restaurants and events (including the Nobel Banquet) request algae for their meals. Other companies and research environments demand raw materials for medicine or dietary supplements, for biodegradable plastic alternatives, perhaps even as future clothing fibers.
“The blue revolution” is a red thread in the company’s value DNA: through research and technical innovation, we humans can discover more applications where algae become one of the most sustainable and climate-friendly raw materials of the future.
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