Kids Web Japan

Growing Seaweed Using Exhaust Heat from Factories

 

(Marine biomass research consortium)

Seaweed grows normally if it is attached to something. Researchers used this knowledge to devise a method of growing green laver seaweed plants by attaching them to each other. When seaweed is cultivated this way, the plants grow ten-fold in just one week and are ready for harvest in just five weeks.

(Marine biomass research consortium)

These seaweed plants can be grown in pools. The Marine Biomass Research Consortium has been looking into ways to build pools and other seaweed-growing facilities close to factories and power plants. In this facility's cultivation pool, which is as big as several 50-meter swimming pools, seaweed grows well thanks to the presence of CO2, factory exhaust heat, and sunlight.

Turning Seaweed into Biofuel

Liquid biofuel can be obtained by compressing the oils contained in seaweed through a process similar to the squeezing of olives to make olive oil. Gaseous biofuel can also be produced from seaweed through a steam-baking process, and a grain-like solid biofuel can be produced by removing the moisture from seaweed pulp, then drying, filtering, and heating it.

In scientific research, first small experiments are conducted using beakers and test tubes and then large-scale experiments are undertaken. Research on seaweed cultivation covers a wide range of aspects, including seaweed growth rates, the amounts of energy and fuel that can be extracted from different seaweed varieties, the CO2 cycle, ways of using seaweed, and sites where facilities might be built. The results of this research will enable scientists to pinpoint technologies that truly benefit society.

(Updated in February 2009)