Kelp Elevator Could Give Biofuels a Lift

by Katharine Gammon (Inside Science) An experiment off the coast of California may bolster efforts to make biocrude from "the Sequoia of the sea." --- Catalina Island, .... Its waters are also home to an unsual-looking science experiment: a floating bed of planted kelp that is pushed down and pulled up each day, as if riding a giant elevator.

The idea behind the project is to find an efficient way to farm kelp for fuel. The ribbonlike sea vegetable requires a minimum of resources -- no soil, no fresh water, no fertilizer -- and can grow up to 2 feet each day, earning it the nickname “the Sequoia of the sea.” Ultimately, the kelp would be harvested and turned into a petroleum substitute called biocrude.

The system of transportation and production for biocrude -- from pipes to refineries -- is already in place, said Diane Kim, a marine biologist at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, but the industry has been limited by the inability to produce and harvest enough plants, algae and other organic material to turn into fuel.

That’s where the kelp experiments come in. A company called Marine BioEnergy Inc. is collaborating with a research team at the Wrigley Institute, using funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency -- Energy to conduct proof-of-concept testing. READ MORE