For_All_Humanity OP t1_j8rt3qb wrote on February 16, 2023 at 2:31 PM

>Web giant Amazon will fund what's billed as a world-first commercial-scale scheme to grow seaweed between offshore wind turbines, said the team planning the venture.

>Amazon will give Dutch non-profit North Sea Farmers €1.5m ($1.6m) to develop the eco project, which could be up and running by the end of 2023 covering 10 hectares in the North Sea off the Netherlands.

>North Sea Farmers is currently in final talks with developers in the Borssele and Hollandse Kust zones over which project will host North Sea Farm 1, slated to produce 6,000kg of fresh seaweed in its first year.

>The first project will serve markets for seaweed-based products that range from animal feeds to cosmetics, and research the ability of seaweed to act as a natural sequestration tool for carbon.

>Roeland Donker, Netherlands country manager for Amazon in the Netherlands said: "Like trees, as seaweed grows it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, and it can be used to create biodegradable packaging, as well as food and fashion products.”

>The money will come from the web giant's climate fund.

>North Sea Farm 1 is the latest move in a growing effort to harmonise offshore wind development with aquaculture.

>Other pilot projects are slated for the North Seawhile China has unveiled plans for unified offshore wind and fish farming off Shandong province.

>However, the offshore wind sector has also sometimes found itself at odds with local fishing industries, with some projects facing stiff opposition.

While 6000kg isn’t a lot of seaweed, it is an interesting example of how we can see dual use in our clean energy projects as noted by the article. Hopefully projects like this can become a blueprint for future endeavors and works out well. Both for us and the planet.

monkeywaffles t1_j8vkmp2 wrote on February 17, 2023 at 6:44 AM

Or, pessimistically, it's a way to try to change public perception of unpopular windfarms that will displace local fishing jobs, under guise of being green, and letting large corporations make more claim to open waters or buffer zone around 'their' claim to keep folks out.

Now, I'm not saying it's bad or wrong to put up wind, I frankly don't know enough about it.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/offshore-wind-energy/fishing-community-impacts

GreatBigJerk t1_j8z3djz wrote on February 17, 2023 at 11:56 PM

I don't think offshore wind farms are unpopular. If anything, displacing fishermen is a good thing. Fishing is unsustainable at the current scale.

monkeywaffles t1_j8zaugf wrote on February 18, 2023 at 12:54 AM

I was just going off that NOAA page I linked that says that lists several concerns with them. You can read them yourself.

I've also seen some wild claims being thrown around that they can kill or confuse whales, that NOAA said there was no evidence yet for, just a lotta dead whales for unknown reasons. Almost certainly bullshit (claims of it being wind related), but to claim there's nobody bringing up complaints is odd.

Also, while you may not think fishing sustainable, the coastal towns that rely on fishing may still feel that disruption of their way of life and loss of jobs to be a problem, and even destruction of coal mining towns and the fallout there is used politically.