Cyclical nutrient use

Challenge

Development of a technological solution for anyone who wishes to begin effective, high-yield seaweed production for nearly half of today’s production costs. The hardware solution consists of a cultivation system and a harvesting system. The cultivation system is an infrastructure comprising floats and ropes on which the seaweed can grow. The harvesting system manipulates the growing system to allow all of the seaweed to be harvested efficiently.

Solution idea

Today, most of the world’s seaweed cultivation is conducted manually. These methods are inefficient and difficult to expand beyond the BRICS countries. The purpose of this innovation project is to create technologies and products that can ensure a sustainable supply of seaweed and seaweed products in the future. This will be accomplished through the development and refinement of seaweed production equipment, fermentation tools, and seaweed fertilisers, so as to facilitate cyclical nutrient use.

Agrofertil International has developed a fertiliser product, Agrofertil Fertiliser, based on seaweed. The product fortifies plants and is a highly effective fertiliser. The use of Agrofertil Fertiliser causes plants to grow to the desired size in less time, benefiting production.

Project deliverables

In this project, DTU Aqua, a division of DTU Environment at the Technical University of Denmark, is developing a lactic acid bacterium and method for fermenting seaweed suitable for use in Nordic conditions.

Simultaneously, Nordic Algae will be developing a fermentation tool to make it possible to begin the fermentation process immediately after harvesting fresh seaweed. Work thereafter is expected to focus on developing hardware solutions for cultivating and harvesting seaweed, with the goal of bringing such solutions to a level where they can be tested and certified. Once their designs are finalised, the solutions will be manufactured on a larger scale.

During the project, prototypes will be produced for testing, and trial installations will be set up to test Nordic Algae’s hardware solutions. In this phase, it will be important to establish the correct testing conditions, including wind, waves, and currents, as well as the correct success criteria for ensuring a high level of operational safety and technological maturity, such that Nordic Algae’s solutions can achieve certification.

Lastly, certification will be sought for Agrofertil Fertiliser and a trial crop will be cultivated using Agrofertil Fertiliser.

This project is financed by Energy Cluster Denmark’s Clean Tech Innovation (CTI) support programme. It offers three years of support to allow small- and medium-sized businesses to collaboratively develop innovative electronic products focused on energy optimisation. The CTI project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.