TV2​.NO: Can it replace oil? Will make this a bil­lion dol­lar indus­try in Norway

"SINTEF is underway with a research project that can get this to be a new industrial adventure. Seaweeds can be used as food, salmon feed, organic and biodegradable plastics, bio-energy, pharmaceuticals and even in medicine."

"- There are a wide range of products, says research director at SINTEF, Aleksander Handå, to TV 2 news."

"Requested by chefs
Outside Frøya in Trøndelag is one of Europe's largest plant for cultivation and farming of seaweed."

"Here are they well underway in both research and production. An actor who has long operated on with the harvest of seaweed in Trondheim and Frøya, is the company Seaweed Energy Solutions (SES)."

"- Seaweeds have become a very popular product among chefs and restaurants. We get weekly requests from people to buy biomass when it is harvest ready, says Kaia Kjølbo Rød, marine biologist at Seaweed Energy Solutions."

"- There has been a big market for this in the East for a long time, and now comes Norway. We believe that there is a large market in Europe and that this could be a new major industry, says Kjølbo Rød."

"New billion industry
The potential is enormous, because kelp grows from a few millimeters to over two meters in just a few months."

"- We believe we can grow large quantities along our coast, and seaweed can help to contribute to the creation of 40 to 50 billion NOK within a decade, says SINTEF scientist Aleksander Handå."

"- In an area equivalent to a football field, we can cultivate kelp providing 25 tonnes of dry matter. For comparison, we get 4.5 tons of grain from the same area, says Handå."

"Several major salmon producers are also trying out a co-production of algae and salmon. Half, around 10,000 tons, can be produced in intensive farming areas.

"- Where you have a lot of fish farming, you have much fertilization of the sea. This resource we can take up through the cultivation of seaweed and lead back to an industrial production on land and thus reduce climate and environmental footprint, says Handå."

"Environmentally friendly production
- Kelp captures CO2 and can bind large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. Uptake of nutrients is naturally greatest near farms, says Aleksander Handå."

"To make production industrially interesting, technological solutions and methods are needed. SINTEF is researching now various ways of getting seaweed to become a large commercial production in the future. The Research Council has allocated 24 million NOK to a newly established interdisciplinary project."

"- Seaweed is a wonderful resource that we should produce in large quantities, that is a new industrial adventure we are fully confident in, says Aleksander Handå, research director at SINTEF."

"ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY: The cultivation of seaweed can recycle waste from aquaculture and provides five times as much dry matter per hectare as grain. Photo: Seaweed Energy Solutions"

(translated from original article)

Original article and video (in Norwegian): http://www.tv2.no/a/8241036/