New article: "Life Cycle Assessment of a large commercial kelp farm in Shandong, China"
A large-scale Chinese algae farm requires less electricity and fuel than a small-scale European one, but more materials, according to a new article co-authored by Blue Food researcher Kristina Bergman, KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Key findings of the project, which was based on a life cycle assessment, were that:
- A small-scale Chinese algae farm with an annual harvest of 60 000 tons required less electricity and fuel than a small-scale plant. This places the Chinese plant at a lower level in a comparison of climate impact between plants, but the use of materials was higher.
- There is a large variation in climate impact between cultivation systems, which shows that the algae industry has great potential for improvement.
- Ropes and buoys were the dominant driver of climate impact, fresh and salt water nutrient inputs and energy use. The most effective improvement is therefore to reuse ropes and buoys.