Marine biomass offers a huge opportunity as an indigenous renewable energy source in the NPP region. It also provides the potential for sustainable employment opportunities in coastal areas.
The brown seaweed Laminaria hyperborean – more commonly called ‘kelp’ – can be used to produce methane. This can then be used to generate electricity.
Cultivating marine biomass (in contrast to terrestrial biomass) for energy production means that agricultural land may need to be used to produce fuel rather than food. However, because of the volume requirements of marine feed stocks, it is likely that open water cultivation will in fact be considered (see Figure 1). And because marine algae contain no lignin and little cellulose, they show high conversion efficiencies and rapid conversion rates. Finally, the waste nutrients from the process can later be used in the agricultural sector, adding value to the total process.
Care will be taken within the programme to ensure environmental concerns are assessed in any of the MSMs.
