Carbon sequestration from seaweed farming and natural seaweed habitats: an overlooked solution for climate change mitigation?

Protecting seaweed habitats can be an effective approach to mitigate climate change.

Previous research examining the potential of seaweed habitats to sequester carbon has focused on organic carbon storage in marine sediments. Little is known about inorganic carbon that is produced and exported from seaweed habitats.

Seaweed habitats produce inorganic carbon as carbonate alkalinity, which remains permanently dissolved in the ocean and buffers coastal waters against acidification.

In this project, I will combine field observations, laboratory manipulations, and global compilations to examine alkalinity enhancement as carbon sequestration pathway in natural and artificial seaweed habitats.

Using state-of-the-art mesocosm facilities in Germany, I will assess how global warming affects alkalinity enhancement and carbon production in natural seaweed habitats.

Seasonal measurements of alkalinity and carbon compounds at a commercial seaweed farm in Bohuslän will evaluate the climate benefits of seaweed farming.

Sediment cores at Kosterhavet National Park will be taken to assess carbon sequestration associated with seaweed export in marine sediments.

The new data will resolve drivers of alkalinity enhancement, quantify carbon sequestration, and set the scene for global upscaling and predictions.

The outcome of this project will be a re-evaluation of the role of seaweed habitats in climate mitigation, providing new arguments for preserving these threatened coastal ecosystems.