Macroalgae Cultivation

Fuel and Chemicals

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) issued a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in November, 2016, for the development of advanced cultivation technologies that enable profitable and energy efficient production of macroalgalbiomass (seaweeds) in the ocean.These technologies are expected to be deployed and support cultivation of macroalgal-biomass feedstocks at a scale relevant for the production of commodity fuels and chemicals. The primary challenge is to dramatically reduce capital and operating cost of macroalgae cultivation, while significantly increasing the range of deployment by expanding into more exposed, off-shore environments.

Specifically, ARPA-E is interested in new designs and approaches to macroalgae cultivation and production with integrated harvesting solutions. These systems may leverage new material and engineering solutions, autonomous and/or robotic operations, as well as advanced sensing and monitoring capabilities. In addition to “field-type” cultivation, ARPA-E is also interested in unconventional approaches, for example “ranching” where free floating macroalgae are harvested at locations predicted/determined by satellite imaging and current/drift modeling. Given the enormous size and geographic diversity of the U.S. marine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), we expect that there will be different system solutions based on the intended area of deployment, macroalgal species to be cultivated, and downstream processing. To support and accelerate the development of these advanced cultivation systems, ARPA-E is also interested in hydrodynamic and ocean current models that can predict the mechanical stresses on a cultivation system as well as the flow and distribution of nutrients through a macroalgae “field”. Furthermore, to validate the performance of macroalgae cultivation systems, appropriate sensors to measure in situ biomass production and composition as well as nutrient concentrations will be required. Finally, to complement the new system design approaches, ARPA-E is also looking for advanced breeding tools that can help in the development of new, highly productive macroalgae cultivars. ARPA-E has determined that, at this time, biomass conversion is not a limiting factor for profitable and wide-spread production of fuels and chemicals from macroalgae, and consequently will not support work in that area at this time. However, an understanding of macroalgae conversion processes are expected to inform and guide the development of cultivation and harvest strategies, or other tools described below.

Overall, this program will address marine system design/engineering and integration with biomass production, hydrodynamic and ocean modeling, marine spatial planning, sensor technology development, macroalgae breeding tools, and field testing of cultivation systems and sensor technologies. The program will also address emerging markets necessary as “stepping stones” to a thriving marine macroalgae-to-fuels and chemicals industry.