Marine BioEnergy is developing a novel system to grow giant kelp in the open ocean. Kelp does not naturally grow in the deep ocean because there are no nutrients in the top layer and kelp needs a substrate for attachment. Marine BioEnergy is building unmanned drone submarines to tow long lines of kelp. The drones will submerge the farms below the thermocline at night where nutrients are abundant and surface the farms during the day to absorb sunlight. The drones will also submerge the farms to avoid ships and storms. In preliminary testing conducted by a team at the University of Southern California Wrigley Institute, the depth-cycled kelp is growing as well or better than the control kelp. If the kelp continues to thrive in the open ocean environment, the next step is to deploy farms to grow kelp as a biomass feedstock. The proof-of-concept experiments are funded by an award from the U.S. Dept of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). We are pleased to be part of the MARINER Program that ARPA-E has funded to launch ocean farming in the United States. (MARINER: Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources)
