Kids Web Japan

Making Seaweed Absorb CO2 in the Sea of Japan

(Kyoto Institute of Oceanic and Fishery Science)

This large seaweed plant is a type of gulfweed (sargassum fulvellum) and grows from 0.3-millimeter spores to maturity in just one year. Once gulfweed spores have grown into juvenile plants, they are attached to rope and grown to maturity in the ocean.

Growing seaweed using buoys

Growing seaweed in shallow water

Seaweed needs sunlight and nutrients to grow properly. So, to ensure that the gulfweed plants get plenty of sunlight, the researchers have devised cultivation methods such as buoys that keep the plants just two to three meters below the ocean's surface and a method of growing the plants in shallow water. They are also considering the best place to grow the seaweed so that it does not take away nutrients needed by fish living nearby.

Dried          Fermented

Seaweed is also being used to create biofuel. To turn seaweed into biofuel, it is first dried and then fermented so that a liquid ethanol, like that used in science classes, can be extracted from the plants.

All aspects of the process of creating biofuel from seaweed are now being investigated. These include the systems for harvesting fully grown seaweed, the selection of locations for ethanol production plants, and the development of technology to remove water, which makes up 90% of seaweed's mass, from the plants. This project is called "Apollo & Poseidon Initiative 2025."