Strategic considerations for establishing a large-scale seaweed industry based on fish feed application: a Norwegian case study (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021
As the demand for proteins increases with growing populations, farmed seaweed is a potential option for use directly as an ingredient for food, feed, or other applications, as it does not require agricultural areas. In this study, a life cycle assessment was utilised to calculate the environmental performance and evaluate possible improvements of the entire value chain from production of sugar kelp seedings to extracted protein. The impacts of both technical-and biological factors on the environmental outcomes were examined, and sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were conducted to analyse the impact of the uncertainty of the input variables on the variance of the environmental impact results of seaweed protein production. The current production of seaweed protein was found to have a global warming potential (GWP) that is four times higher than that of soy protein from Brazil. Further, of the 23 scenarios modelled, two resulted in lower GWPs and energy consumption per kg of seaweed protein relative to soy protein. These results present possibilities for improving the environmental impact of seaweed protein production. The most important variables for producing seaweed protein with low environmental impact are the source of drying energy for seaweed, followed by a high protein content in the dry matter, and a high dry matter in the harvested seaweed. In the two best scenarios modelled in this study, the dry matter content was 20% and the protein content 19.2% and 24.3% in dry matter. This resulted in a lower environmental impact for seaweed protein production than that of soy protein from Brazil. These scenarios should be the basis for a more environmental protein production in the future.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018
This study compares the environmental performances of two protein sources for aquafeed production: Brazilian soy protein concentrate and Norwegian seaweed protein concentrate. The efficiency and sustainability of these two production systems are assessed using a comparative material and substance flow analysis accounting for the transfers of primary energy and phosphorus. The primary energy and phosphorus demand of 1 t of soy protein is compared to 2 t seaweed protein to assess commodities with similar protein contents. The primary energy consumption of the latter protein source (172,133 MJ) is found 11.68 times larger than for the soy-based concentrate (14,733 MJ). However, the seaweed protein energy requirement can be reduced to 34,010 MJ if secondary heat from a local waste incineration plant is used to dry the biomass during the late-spring harvest. The seaweed system outperformed the soy system regarding mineral phosphorus consumption since 1 t of soy protein requires 25.75 kg mineral phosphorus while 2 t of seaweed protein require as little as 0.008 kg input. These results indicate that substituting soy protein with seaweed protein in aquafeed leads to an environmental trade-off. The seaweed value chain produces proteins with near zero mineral phosphorus consumption by using naturally occurring marine phosphorus while the soy value-chain produces proteins for roughly 1/12th of the primary energy required by seaweed. Based on the current production technology, the seaweed value-chain will require extensive innovation and economies of scale to become energy competitive. Further research should investigate the predictive environmental impacts of a fully developed seaweed protein concentrate value-chain and account for the background emissions and multi-functionality in each system.
Aquaculture Economics & Management
Simulations were performed to evaluate the economic potential of farming the seaweed Hypnea pseudomusciformis in two production scales for the carrageenan, human food, and glycolic extract markets in Brazil. The initial investment was low in all scenarios (US$25,579 in 7.5 ha and US$71,202 in 22.5 ha farms). Labor and taxes were the major production costs for production commercialized for the carrageenan and human food markets, respectively. Liquid glycerin and bottles were the main costs when the productions were marketed for glycolic extract. The carrageenan market showed no economic feasibility. On the other hand, the human consumption market was shown as very profitable, resilient, and highly attractive (IRR was 100100%). Marketing the glycolic extract is also feasible and attractive (IRR was 10025%) but had lower economic indicators and low resilience when compared to the human food market scenario. Upscaling the production optimized investments and reduced production costs, improving profitability. The plasticity of seaweed enables entrepreneurs to explore different markets simultaneously to increase farm resilience.
Techno-Economic Analysis of a Seaweed Extraction Process
2019
The goal of this thesis was to perform a techno-economic analysis of a seaweed polysaccharide extraction process that could estimate how economically viable it would be to harvest and process seaweed in Maine to produce algal polysaccharides. I pursued two investigations to answer this question: First, I continued the research I have been doing on an EPSCoR SEANET funded undergraduate research team working on the extraction and fractionation of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) to produce three different separated polysaccharides: alginate, laminarin, and fucoidan. My contributions to this project were primarily to hydrolyze whole pieces of seaweed and extracted samples and quantify their saccharide composition by running the hydrolysates through HPLC. I also prepared samples for elemental analysis by ICP-MS and contributed to tasks associated with the extraction and fractionation work. The seaweed samples we used were harvested from various locations along the Maine coast and colle...
Journal of Applied Phycology
The Bio Economic Seaweed Model (BESeM) is a model designed for modelling tropical seaweed cultivation. BESeM can simulate the common tropical seaweed cultivation system with multiple harvests per year, clonal reproduction and labour intensive harvesting and replanting activities. Biomass growth is modelled as a sigmoid, with growth being initially exponentially and eventually flattening off towards a maximum weight per plant or per square meter (wf,max). To estimate the latter, longer duration experiments than normal are needed – in the order of 100 days rather than 45 days. Drying (on platforms on the beach) is simulated as well as increase in harvested chemical concentration over time since planting, for harvested chemicals such as agar extracted from Gracilaria or carrageenan extracted from Kappaphycus or Euchema. BESeM has a limited number of parameters which makes it easily amenable to new sites and species. An experiment is presented for a site in Indonesia in which Gracilaria...
Competitiveness of Indonesian Non-Human Consumption Seaweed in the China Market
Journal Of Management, Accounting, General Finance, And International Economic Issues/Journal of Management, Accounting, General Finance, and International Economic Issues, 2023
China is the largest importer of seaweed globally, and Indonesia is one of the countries that exports seaweed to China. Other exporting countries such as Chile and Peru also supply seaweed to China. This study aims to analyze the competitiveness of Indonesian seaweed (HS 121229) in comparison to seaweed from other exporting countries and to investigate the demand for Indonesian seaweed and other seaweed-exporting countries in the Chinese market. The study utilized export data from exporting countries that supplied China's seaweed requirements between 2012 and 2021. Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) and Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that Indonesian seaweed (HS 121229) has a comparative advantage in the Chinese market. However, Indonesian seaweed's comparative advantage is still lower than its competitors. The demand for Indonesian seaweed in the Chinese market is inelastic. Therefore, to increase Indonesian seaweed's export income, exports should be increased rather than lowering prices. To reinforce Indonesia's position in the Chinese seaweed market, Indonesia should collaborate with other exporting countries that complement Indonesia's efforts, such as Chile.
Agribusiness development economic study of seaweed
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2019
Specific targets for this study is to increase the income of seaweed farmers through increasing regional competitiveness in South Sulawesi Province and an arrangement for alternative policy patterns in the development of seaweed agribusiness in Bulukumba Regency. The research location is in Bulukumba Regency which one of the centers of seaweed production in South Sulawesi Province. This research was descriptive qualitative-quantitative research. The survey research method was used as the basis of the research design. Data collection was carried out using individual interviews and in-depth interviews through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) for socio-economic institutions of seaweed farmers, policymakers and stakeholders. The results showed that the feasibility level of seaweed farming was quite high even though there were variations between regions. The variation in the lower level of profitability of farming in the Bonto Bahari Sub District area which is allegedly caused by the polluti...
Journal of Applied Phycology, 2021
The production of marine biomass based on seaweed cultivation is growing rapidly in Europe. One of the major challenges for the development of this new industry is associated with processing of the wet biomass harvested from cultivation sites. Efficient methods for the stabilization (i.e. procedures to maintain the integrity and safety of the biomass) and further processing of large quantities of harvested raw material are still lacking as the development of adapted technologies is often limited by significant capital investment. This study investigates the concept of landing facilities for the processing of cultivated seaweed biomass (LFCS) shared among various stakeholders as a practical mean to overcome these challenges. Qualitative data were collected during interviews with relevant stakeholders from Norway and abroad (including seaweed cultivators, technology suppliers and industrial buyers of biomass) to describe the current commercial applications for cultivated seaweeds as well as the methods used for the stabilization and processing of the biomass. This study showed that LFCS can give stakeholders the opportunity to share the costs (investment, operational), thus lowering the financial threshold for establishing efficient strategies for processing large quantities of cultivated seaweed biomass. It was identified that such a structure will increase the synergy among industrial actors along the entire value chain to stimulate innovation and facilitate the production of high-quality products from seaweeds to relevant markets (food, animal feed, nutraceuticals and cosmetics). It can also lead to a higher degree of specialization in this new industry. These premises will contribute to increase the profitability of the emerging European seaweed sector. Identification of the appropriate stabilization processes for large-scale production, definition of the role of LFCS in the seaweed value chain as well as the mode of engagement of the stakeholders in such structure are thus acknowledged as key considerations to define during the planning phase.