Seaweed cultivation has been proposed as a strategy to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, we lack detailed estimates of the global potential for seaweed cultivation. I will begin this seminar by discussing the growing interest in seaweed farming and reviewing the current state of the seaweed farming industry. I will summarize existing efforts to estimate global macroalgae productivity potential, focusing on results from a recently developed dynamic seaweed growth model, the Global MacroAlgae Cultivation Modeling System (G-MACMODS). Unlike previous models, G-MACMODS estimates the potential global yield of four different types of seaweed worldwide under different nutrient scenarios.
We’ll talk about the G-MACMODS harvest estimates in the context of some relevant carbon-dioxide removal targets, emphasizing the uncertainties surrounding these estimates and discussing pressing areas of future research.