{"id":1641,"date":"2026-05-07T15:15:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2026-05-07T15:15:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:15:56","slug":"planes-and-ships-could-run-on-kelp-someday-but-there-are-serious-hurdles-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=1641","title":{"rendered":"Planes and ships could run on kelp someday, but there are serious hurdles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ZOE BEKETOVA and ANA GEORGESCU\/MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

WOODS HOLE, Mass. (AP) \u2014 Green cells whirl around a red-light chamber, propelled by a blade through bubbling water. These little seaweed cells, called gametophytes, will develop into a strain of fast-growing kelp \u2014 part of what was once a government-funded initiative to develop sustainable biofuels for American transport.<\/p>

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Electricity from solar and wind energy can power cars, however ships and aircraft largely run on liquid fuels made with a large percentage of oil or gasoline. When burned, those emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. Biofuel, refined from organic material like plants or algae, is a potential option to change the fuel makeup.<\/p>\n

One kind of biofuel comes from kelp. Through a process that uses heat and pressure to produce fuel, known as hydrothermal liquefaction, this humble seaweed could power ships and aircraft without any petroleum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need other sources of energy that are sustainable, we can\u2019t just rely on petroleum,\u201d said Scott Lindell, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution about a 90-minute drive south of Boston. \u201cThere\u2019s hardly anything simpler, or anything that grows quite as fast and as sustainably, as seaweed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Existing biofuels, like corn-derived ethanol, primarily work as gasoline additives. Corn crops require agricultural land, fresh water and pesticides while kelp, by contrast, can be grown in the ocean with minimal resources.<\/p>\n

Although any bioethanol \u2014 whether produced from corn or kelp \u2014 releases hazardous gases when burned, such as acetaldehyde, these fuels produce fewer greenhouse gases overall compared to petroleum-based fuels.<\/p>\n

Researchers like Lindell have successfully bred kelp varieties that in some cases produce up to three times more biomass than conventional strains. Yet energy companies are hesitant to invest in large-scale aquaculture projects without demonstrated demand, and farmers are reluctant to scale up without a guaranteed buyer, forming a circular problem that has slowed industry development.<\/p>

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Government interest in biofuels is inconsistent<\/h4>\n

Aquaculture farms today remain small, supplying kelp primarily to restaurants, cosmetics companies and fertilizer producers. Hauke Kite-Powell, an engineer and economic analyst at Woods Hole, said scaling kelp production to support a biofuel economy would require sustained government support, beyond just the private sector.<\/p>\n

While oil price volatility, driven in part by international conflicts such as the war in Iran, has led to bursts of renewed interest in energy independence, government support for options like biofuel fluctuates in the United States. In 2016, a program run by the Department of Energy set out to develop tools for kelp-based biofuel production.<\/p>\n

The program, known as MARINER \u2014 Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources \u2014 consisted of projects ranging from developing heat-resistant kelp strains that can withstand warming oceans to studies on seaweed genomes. The Department of Energy often backs exploratory, high-risk high-return projects, and researchers involved in MARINER said they made progress, such as increasing kelp yields.<\/p>\n

The program mirrored a similar feasibility-testing venture that began in the 1970s, which was swiftly terminated once oil prices stabilized. Lindell\u2019s lab, funded by MARINER, focused on improving crop yield by selectively breeding kelp with desirable qualities \u2014 such as nonreproductive capabilities to prevent interbreeding with wild kelp \u2014 so that, down the line, farmers could scale up their kelp production.<\/p>

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Lindell\u2019s MARINER funding lasted six years, finishing in 2024. Since then, federal research funding opportunities have been fewer and delayed. But the urgent need for sustainable energy remains, he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think things have changed incredibly since the first oil crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

A middle market for kelp has yet to materialize<\/h4>\n

Farmers note the difficulties of finding consistent kelp buyers. Oliver Dixon, a shellfish farmer based in Point Judith, Rhode Island, grows kelp to supplement his oyster business during the winter. As of this month, he expects to harvest about 10,000 pounds of kelp, selling most of it to local restaurants and seafood markets.<\/p>

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