Dossier
Seaweed
There is an increasing interest within Western Europe for the cultivation of seaweed as a resource for feed, bio-stimulants for soil and crops, and as a bio-feedstock. The fact that the cultivation of seaweed requires no farmland and that many types grow in salt or brackish water are distinct advantages. As yet, the cultivation of seaweed in the Dutch waters is limited, but in the coming decades more wind farms will be developed in the North Sea with opportunities for a combination with large-scale seaweed cultivation. Seaweed is already cultivated extensively in Asian countries, but the production methods are not always sustainable. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) works on sustainable seaweed cultivation technology, explicitly targeting the North Sea area.
Topics on which our efforts focus are:
- The economic and technological feasibility of large-scale cultivation of seaweed
- Spatial requirements and the effects on the marine ecosystem
- The development of sustainable cultivation methods and seaweed breeding
- The processing of harvested biomass and development of bio-refinery and fermentation technology
- Development of sales channels and business cases
- Taking stock of risks, for example regarding food safety
Our research is project-based. Funding is provided by, among others, the European Union, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Safety, TKI-Agri&Food and the business and seaweed sectors.
News about seaweed cultivation
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Horizon Europe grant to upscale seaweed production and application
- Researchers Sander van den Burg, Sophie Koch and Roel Helmes at Wageningen Economic Research (SSG) are part of a consortium that has been awarded a... -
Research into large-scale seaweed production at sea
- In the coming years, the use and layout of a large part of the Dutch North Sea will change dramatically. At the same time, the demand for sustainably... -
Fish stocks fluctuate with seawater temperature
- Year-to-year fluctuations in seawater temperature are partly responsible for the much slower ups and downs in the abundance of marine fish stocks.... -
Reduction environmental impact by Cultivation of Royal Kombu
- Cultivation of Royal Kombu seaweed reduces environmental impact of the future diet. But when used in vegetarian burgers, be cautious about iodine. -
Seaweed underneath the wind turbines
- Wind farm waters are unsuitable for fishing, shipping or recreation. Yet these areas may have other interesting uses, say researchers. Seaweed... -
Seaweed as a methane inhibitor is not free of risks
- Cows exhale the strong greenhouse gas methane. One of the possible ways to limit methane emissions from cows is by feeding them the seaweed...
News 2019-2020
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Seaweed as a sustainable food source
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Car drives 80 kilometres on fuel from seaweed
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Unique innovation challenge for universities of technology
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Crickets and seaweed as meat substitutes? Mansholt lecture 2019 focussed on protein transition
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Insects, seaweed wraps and vegan ice cream on the shelves at Lidl
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A future-proof diet with future foods
Research on seaweed cultivation
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Aquatic food systems
There are several ways that marine systems could be better exploited in the fight for global hunger relief. Using the food system approach (FSA), we... -
Safe Seaweed by Design
Safe Seaweed by Design develops protocols to support the seaweed sector in monitoring and assessing safety. We conduct a pilot in Norway to test and... -
EU is boosting the development of seaweed cultivation systems with GENIALG
The EU project GENIALG brings together pioneering companies in large-scale integrated European biorefineries and experts in seaweed cultivation,... -
SOMOS: Technical Standards for Safe Production of Food and Feed from marine plants and Safe Use of Ocean Space
Somos, a study into safety at sea is taking off as part of a partnership between Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Wageningen University &... -
MACROFUELS: Macro-algae as a sustainable source for biofuels
Seaweeds or macroalgae are the fastest growing plants at the Northern EU latitude. To grow, seaweeds need only CO2, sunlight and the nutrients already...
Reports and articles
- Report: Development of Offshore Seaweed Cultivation: food safety, cultivation, ecology and economy - Mar 2019
- Report: A Triple P review of the feasibility of sustainable offshore seaweed production in the North Sea - Sep 2013
- Farming at sea - Sustainable seaweed Published in Wageningen World no. 3 2011
Publications
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Seaweed as climate mitigation solution : Categorizing and reflecting on four climate mitigation pathways
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change (2023) - ISSN 1757-7780 -
Combinatieteelt biedt kansen
In: Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij - Stichting Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij - ISBN: 9789493232068 - p. 62-63. -
Europees zeewierteelt op komst
In: Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij - Stichting Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij - ISBN: 9789493232068 - p. 13-15. -
Safe Seaweed by Design – Food Safety
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Wageningen Food Safety Research & Seaweed
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Safe seaweed & research opportunities at Wageningen Food Safety Research
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Bioavailability of iodine species from various commercially consumed seaweed species
Wageningen: Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR Report 2023.004) -
Data underlying the study: Addition of iron does not ameliorate sulfide toxicity by sargassum influx to mangroves but dampens methane and nitrous oxide emissions
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Can seaweeds feed the world? Modelling world offshore seaweed production potential
Ecological Modelling (2023), Volume: 484 - ISSN 0304-3800 -
Eiwit uit zeewier biedt kansen, maar is nog geen laaghangend fruit