Germany's SPRIN-D challenge 'Carbon-to-Value' grants five projects an initial €600,000 to explore breakthrough ways to remove large quantities of atmospheric CO2 and transform it into long-lasting products
LEIPZIG, Germany, June 09, 2022, Carbonwave, GEOMAR and Seafields, as one of five projects chosen for their 'Carbon-to-Value' challenge. SPRIN-D(Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) is funded by the German Federal Government and tasked with financially supporting break-through ideas. The team is supported by BASF to help provide bio-based feedstocks for use in chemical production processes.
This challenge calls for a scalable process to transform CO2 into products that sequester carbon for decades. To be chosen, the end-products must be economically viable and carbon negative.
C-Cause (Chemical Carbon Utilization through Sargassum Economy) looks to reshape humanity's carbon feedstock supply chain, by transforming Atlantic and Caribbean Sargassum (which offers very high carbon sequestration efficiency compared to other types of biomass) into ethanol, which can be used to produce long-lived engineering plastics that store the carbon for decades. Currently, biological feedstocks for ethanol include corn, sugar cane, and wood - all of which compete with food systems and other industries for land and resources, while also contributing to deforestation.
The project has two goals: developing a proof of concept for open ocean Sargassum aquafarms, and optimizing pathways to turn Sargassum biomass into ethanol for engineered plastics that will store CO2 long-term.
Dr Mar Fernández-Méndez, Chief Scientific Officer of Seafields says "We are delighted to further our research into innovative solutions to increase carbon sequestration, which is critical, along with reducing emissions, to lower atmospheric CO2 levels. Sargassum has both a high carbon sequestration efficiency and fast growth rate, and as a floating macroalgae doesn't need moored lines to grow like Kelp does, making it ideal for commercially scalable aquafarming geared at CDR."
Jason Cole, SVP of Innovation for Carbonwave, adds "By developing potentially large-scale applications, we enable Sargassum to become the cornerstone of blue carbon. Working with BASF to create high-level engineering plastics from ethanol produced from Sargassum, we can create truly-sustainable industrial infrastructure - including the pipes and farming structures we need for ocean farms - within a resilient, ocean-based model."
C-Cause is governed by the Alfred Wegener Institute's Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Seafields SL and Carbonwave will manage key technical and operational phases of the pilot. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, will provide expertise on artificial upwelling for the open ocean aquafarms. C-Cause's winning proposal benefitted from regular contact with researchers from BASF on the possible integration of products derived from Sargassum into future chemical industry value chains.
About Carbonwave:
Carbonwave is the world leader transforming Sargassum seaweed into high-margin, plant-based, biomaterials that replace petroleum products and other harmful industrial inputs. With operations in Mexico and Puerto Rico, Carbonwave has already launched SeaBalance - the world's first seaweed-based emulsifiers for cosmetics and personal care - and Sarga Agriscience, a line of organic agricultural fertilizers and biostimulants.
About Seafields Solutions
Seafields is pioneering a method to farm, bail, and sink Sargassum seaweed in the Atlantic subtropical gyres and, in doing so, sequester gigatons of carbon, promote fisheries, and produce alternatives to fossil-derived products with industry partners. Our approach aims to tap into thousand-year storage timescales, scaling with near zero energy consumption that uses the ocean's natural upwelling as well as wind and solar power throughout the installation's lifespan.
