News

New Center To Advance Use of Seaweed in the Global Economy

October 2, 2024
By: Julie Gipple

Nearly $13 million in funding announced today will establish the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center at UC Berkeley.

Fish swim among seaweed and anemones
Kelp forest ecosystem in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area and Haida Heritage Site, Haida Gwaii. UC Berkeley Professor Daniel Okamoto studies these ecosystems in collaboration with both the Council of Haida Nation and Parks Canada who co-manage Gwaii Haanas. Okamoto will co-lead the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center. Markus Thompson

The UC Berkeley Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI) has received nearly $20 million to establish a center aimed at advancing the use of seaweed in the global supply chain. 

Named the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center (IBMC) at UC Berkeley, the Center will address the need for foundational knowledge, technological approaches, supply chain designs, policy frameworks, community engagement, and educational materials for businesses and consumers to build sustainable macroalgal-based bioeconomies. 

The bioeconomy — the subset of the economy based on products, services and processes derived from living systems — is garnering significant attention as the need for energy independence, food security and environmental sustainability becomes more urgent. Macroalgae (seaweeds) have been noted for their huge potential in all these areas. 

Because macroalgae grow faster than traditional crops, require less water and provide essential nutrients, they offer a promising resource for producing fuels, food and other products like pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Interest in cultivation of macroalgae is increasing in the U.S. and globally due to its possible social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits, including job creation, and its potential to produce renewable chemicals and alternative energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

“The IBMC’s goal is to harness the biochemical richness, evolutionary significance, favorable physiology, rapid growth, and industrial scale-up potential of seaweed to drive innovation, sustainability and economic development in the global bioeconomy,” said John Coates, director of the EBI and a professor in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology. “With our expert partner institutions from the U.S., Canada, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, IBMC will contribute to a sustainable future by offering new opportunities for economic growth while also addressing critical environmental challenges.”

The IBMC will launch officially in January 2025. Coates will co-lead the Center with David Zilberman, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE), Alexandra Hill, an assistant professor of cooperative extension in ARE, and Dan Okamoto, an assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology.

Seaweed’s potential

Seaweeds provide ecosystem habitats for diverse marine species, offer coastal protection, and act as a repository for atmospheric carbon. An uptick in seaweed cultivation is being driven by their role in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), which is a farming method that involves raising multiple aquatic species together in close proximity, with the goal of improving efficiency and reducing waste. Integration of seaweed farming into aquaculture is known to bring added benefits, such as ecosystem restoration, nutrient recycling and improved sustainability. 

“Macroalgae are abundant and show immense potential, but are thus far an underutilized resource,” said Okamoto. “They have high photosynthetic efficiency, grow rapidly, and have low water usage, compared to traditional crops like rapeseed and soybean.”

Seaweeds are increasingly being grown as a source of nutrients and therapeutics for the food and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, seaweed has the potential to sequester carbon and may be used as a feedstock for biofuels, making it a possible sustainable alternative to carbon-intensive products like synthetic fertilizers, fossil fuels and petrochemicals.

Because seaweeds naturally accumulate many pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, antimicrobials and heavy metals, they can also be used to help clean up contaminated soil and groundwater and reclaim materials from the environment. Some seaweeds can also absorb Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from water, and could potentially be instrumental for environmentally sustainable biomining of these crucial metals that are used widely across the electronics, clean energy, healthcare, security and transportation industries. 

A crucial player in the bioeconomy

The funding was announced today by the National Science Foundation and partner agencies in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Finland, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United Kingdom as a part of the Global Centers competition. The program is awarding nearly $82 million to fund six Centers that will advance the bioeconomy to solve global challenges. Other Global Centers will focus on innovative recycling and waste management, increasing crop resilience and water use efficiency, approaches for utilizing waste biomass for bioplastics, and paving the way for biofoundries to scale-up applications of biotechnology for societal benefit. All Centers will integrate education and social sciences, public engagement and workforce development, paying close attention to impacts on communities.

In addition to the nearly $5 million grant from the NSF, IBMC will be supported by three partner countries, with additional commitments from the United Kingdom, Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; and the ROK Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. 

“The world is facing serious challenges, including adapting to or mitigating the effects of climate change, developing clean energy, advancing sustainable food systems, addressing water insecurity, exploring solutions to emerging infectious diseases, creating resource efficiency and sustaining biodiversity,” said Zilberman. “The IBMC will be a crucial player in the advancement of the bioeconomy and the creation of a more sustainable world.” 

The IBMC will focus on many areas related to advancing a sustainable macroalgal-based Bioeconomy, including foundational knowledge, technological approaches, supply chain designs, policy frameworks, community engagement, and educational materials for businesses and consumers. 

The foundational research efforts will add to the growing body of scientific knowledge about macroalgae biodiversity, including understanding their basic biology, key traits, and geographic distribution; identifying species with desirable properties for breeding and production; and determining sustainable and economically viable cultivation, harvesting, and refining methods. Research will also focus on pinpointing efficient approaches to macroalgae biomass processing that can produce diverse valuable products with minimal waste. Other Center affiliates will seek to understand the market potential and design integrated supply chains from lab to consumer, and others still will assess regulatory and financial constraints and propose supportive policies that will be necessary for developing a sustainable macroalgae economy.

“Incorporating supply chain and socioeconomic considerations into our program ensures that macroalgae-based biotechnologies are technically feasible, economically viable, socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and scalable,” said Zilberman. “By optimizing supply chain logistics and assessing economic impacts, we can create job opportunities, stimulate economic growth and enhance livelihoods in coastal communities.”

Community engagement, outreach, and education activities will be conducted throughout all of the Center’s streams of research. “Through engaging and empowering local stakeholders, we can ensure that macroalgae-based projects align with local values and norms while preserving ecosystem integrity,” said Hill. “These partnerships are also pivotal to ensuring that the models we develop can be successfully expanded and reproduced in other contexts.”

“Macroalgae have been managed and valued by coastal communities and Indigenous people since time immemorial as important sources of food and indicators of ecosystem health,” said Okamoto. “Through this Center we will have opportunities to both serve and learn from our partners from across the Pacific and beyond, including communities, First Nations and Tribes that are key stewards and knowledge holders of marine macroalgae. We aim to help serve their needs and steer the project towards equitable and just outcomes and purposes.”

The Center will investigate various brown and red seaweed species at multiple locations, in order to analyze potential for high value benefits in different locales and to open up more possibilities for seaweed cultivation at scale and increased benefit to environmental diversity. 

Learn more about the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center and the other five Global Centers on the NSF website.