00:01Eighteen kilometres off the Dutch coast, the Hollandse Kustszaad offshore wind park
00:05powers 1.5 million homes.
00:08It's the largest in the world built without government subsidies, a clear sign that wind
00:13energy can stand on its own.
00:15But this boatload of journalists isn't here just to see turbines.
00:20In the waters between them, a new kind of crop is ready for harvest.
00:24Europe's offshore wind parks are growing fast, so why leave all the space between the
00:31turbines empty?
00:33Some believe it could be used to grow seaweed, a low-maintenance crop with high potential.
00:39Making it work economically is still a challenge, but this farm here in the Dutch North Sea is
00:45one of the first to test that idea at commercial scale.
00:49This is North Sea Farm 1, five hectares of seaweed grown on floating nets.
00:55Near-shore farms are becoming common, but doing it this far out at sea, that's new.
01:02Three, two, one, seaweed!
01:08The project is run by North Sea Farmers, a non-profit European Seaweed Association led
01:21by Eif Browers.
01:22This is much more challenging technically, because the sea is rougher, it's usually deeper,
01:28so you need more material for your farm, makes it more expensive further away, so near-shore
01:34is much easier.
01:35However, there is also limited near-shore space, so where will you grow seaweed, where
01:42will you scale up for the coming 10, 20 years?
01:46You need another solution, you need to test it and do it offshore.
01:50This first harvest is a breakthrough for Europe's growing algae sector.
01:54Seaweed captures carbon, supports marine life and can be used in various industries.
01:59Growing it between wind turbines away from shipping traffic makes sense, but until now no one
02:04has really done it, with the exception of small research tests.
02:08Now there's proof this can work.
02:11Mike Salmon is an Irish aquaculture consultant working with Simply Blue, one of the project
02:16partners.
02:17We're looking at, from what we can see now, yeah, it works.
02:21It was quite successful.
02:23The seaweed did grow very well and very fast, so going forward, yes, this can work.
02:28And it's not just seaweed.
02:31The fish are happily growing on the ropes, too.
02:34Offshore wind parks could host more than one kind of ocean farming.
02:38That's another crop we could do out here is mussels, mussel seeds, but it grows quite well
02:45here.
02:46That's baby mussels.
02:50The project is funded in part by Amazon's Right Now Climate Funds to explore its ecological
02:55impact.
02:56Reset shows seaweed farms can help the environment if done right.
03:00This test could deliver the data to prove it.
03:03You have this really highly nutrient dense, very cold water that's pretty accessible to
03:09many people.
03:10And so we want to understand what's the carbon sequestration potential?
03:14What's the biodiversity benefit?
03:15You know, how can this area in between the wind farms really benefit people with the biomaterial?
03:26All these sea areas are now covered with offshore wind turbines, and they are set to grow.
03:32North Sea farmers believe that by 2040, wind parks could offer a million hectares suitable
03:38for seaweed farming.
03:39In Kiel, Germany, Eva Strohhotter from R&D Center University of Applied Sciences manages
03:46pilot sites of Alt Farms, a European-funded research project.
03:50We need more data.
03:54The insurance companies, for example, they need a better basis.
03:57How to ensure an offshore seaweed aquaculture?
04:01Do we grow enough seaweed to become really a business case?
04:06How can we do the monitoring?
04:08We need remote monitoring options.
04:10We have to adapt the design.
04:12We have to adapt the mooring.
04:14That's where school pupils come in.
04:18While some Alt Farms experiments happen offshore, others take place nearshore, where they're easier
04:24to reach.
04:25At this jetty in Kiel Bay, just meters from the school, pupils and scientists have set
04:31up test frames with seaweed seeds.
04:34Every week, pupils pull them up to check how the seaweed is growing and send the results
04:40to the researchers.
04:41Also, we make the photos, so that we can see the development process of the Alps, also
04:49how they grow, how they grow, how they develop, how it works, what we do.
04:53So we can see the different methods in the environment, to see what works best.
04:58This is a very current research approach, which makes a lot of progress.
05:07That's why I think it's very interesting that we can also guide the school life in the
05:11school.
05:12What is research about here in the area and in the area, and what can affect us in the
05:16future, if you can use the algae for many different things.
05:19That's why I think it's very important to be able to do that in the conference.
05:24Pupils are helping to test underwater cameras and electronic sensors that monitor water quality,
05:27essential tools for running seaweed farms.
05:29To make offshore sea farming practical and profitable, growers will need to manage their operations
05:35remotely, so it's important to know which digital tools work best.
05:40Back in the classroom, the mini seaweed farm has become part of the biology course.
05:45Pupils use real research methods, learning science hands-on.
05:50For them, and for their teacher, Frank Sommer, growing and studying seaweed while contributing
05:55to an actual European research project is much more meaningful than a textbook.
06:00It has many advantages, you can easily culture them and you can easily measure them, so it's
06:08practically also a good point in working with seaweed.
06:13Altfarms is also building software to analyse the samples automatically.
06:19And eventually, a smartphone app to help seaweed farmers in their day-to-day work.
06:28Everything we do here with the school and the pupils, the results, the data, are really
06:33needed for our offshore applications.
06:35And they get a lot of experience, a lot of connections, involvement in this kind of business.
06:42While Europe's seaweed sector is growing, most people still know little about it.
06:46A recent Eurobarometer survey found many still see seaweed as exotic and mostly linked to
06:53Asian cuisine.
06:54That's why researchers are now working to raise awareness.
06:58At Sea Level, a free exhibition space in Kiel, visitors can discover how seaweed and shellfish
07:05can be farmed in wind parks and turned into eco-friendly products such as leather alternatives
07:11or food supplements.
07:13Some of these products already exist, but they often use wild seaweed.
07:17Offshore farms could offer a more sustainable and reliable source.
07:21You can replace plastic packaging, you can have plant-based proteins, you can replace fertilizer,
07:29you can replace pesticides.
07:31All the products that are already being made from seaweed today, but not yet from cultivated
07:37seaweed in Europe.
07:38And that's what we want to change.
07:40Offshore farms could feed our economy and power our future.
07:45From clean energy to high-nutrient food and sustainable materials, Europe's seas hold huge potential
07:53if we take care to keep them healthy.
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