This story is part of our December 2024 issue. To subscribe, click here.

Nearly 2,000 miles northwest of Sacramento, Matthew Perkins rode a boat out into the Gulf of Alaska and saw nothing but endless potential for growth.

He took this trip to “The Last Frontier” in 2022. As the founder and CEO of Macro Oceans in West Sacramento, Perkins wanted to learn about seaweed farming and meet people there who had practical experience growing kelp. Drifting off from Kodiak Island, the ocean disappeared into the horizon, and he saw in the waters below that the farm could easily grow 250,000 pounds of seaweed.

“It’s kind of overwhelming how much opportunity there is,” he says. “You’re on the water, snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, you look down and see this incredible biomass growing. It’s literally the bounty of nature.”

Seaweed is a catch-all term for a diverse group of marine organisms. Estimates suggest there are tens of thousands of different seaweed species, divided into three main groups: red algae (Rhodophyta), green algae (Chlorophyta) and brown algae (Phaeophyta).

Right now, people mostly eat or use farmed seaweed as feed for fish. But around the world, the power and potential of seaweed is growing as a key player in the blue economy. It plays a critical role in keeping oceans healthy and capturing carbon. And in recent years, seaweed has emerged as a sustainable element in a range of applications, from fertilizer and animal feed to cosmetics and bioplastics. A 2023 World Bank report estimates that 10 emerging global seaweed markets could grow up to $11.8 billion by 2030, including stimulants for plants, food for animals and additives that reduce methane.

“I think it’s the most untapped resource on the planet and it’s just now beginning to be understood. Thirty to 40 years ago, we didn’t know how to turn sunlight into solar power, and look how much we have today. This is the same trajectory seaweed is on and it will be very sustainable for the future.”Terry Tammimen, President and CEO of AltaSea

“Seaweed farming demonstrates how development, climate and nature work together to generate value and uplift communities,” said Martien van Nieuwkoop, World Bank Global Director for Agriculture and Food.

That said, in the U.S., seaweed farming is still largely uncharted territory, with 98 percent of seaweed production coming from Asian countries. Perkins is one of the innovative movers on the coastal edge, making waves to change that.

“Most people had been looking at food applications,” he says. “‘How can you get more people to eat more seaweed?’ I thought, ‘Everyone is looking at the wrong thing.’”

A creative process

With a background in terrestrial agriculture, Perkins realized progress on the climate crisis wasn’t happening fast enough. But he also understood that, as the world shifted away from petroleum-based products, everything from surfactants to lubricants to plastics would need to be remade using some sort of bio-based feedstock.

He kept hearing about the potential of kelp and, after reading a write-up in National Geographic, he was convinced seaweed could be the carbon-rich feedstock of the future. After launching his business in the middle of COVID, he called all the farmers he could find in Alaska to talk about the intricacies of kelp farming.

In the fall, Alaskan farmers plant millions of tiny sporophytes under water. Come spring, the small kelp plants grow into incredible long blades. When the crop reaches maturity, farmers harvest it in a short six-to-eight week window. After harvest, a farmer delivers the crop to the dock where Macro Oceans begins the processing phase to stabilize it.

Currently, the processing site is in West Sacramento, near sustainability innovators like Better Meat and Origin Materials. While the R&D site will remain here, Macro Oceans plans to expand its processing arm to Alaska. With seaweed being 90 percent water, he says, processing locally is ideal. Plus, Alaska has an extensive coastline, experienced fishers, existing infrastructure and supportive government policies that make it more appealing for companies like Macro Oceans to scale up seaweed farming operations.

California, on the other hand, has a complex history with seaweed farming. While a wild harvesting industry thrived in the 1970s, multiple factors led to a decline, including environmental concerns and shifting market demands. Researchers had grown kelp to convert to methane to use as a fuel source. But this source just couldn’t compete with fossil fuels economically, so early efforts never gained traction, according to California Sea Grant, which issues state and federal research awards.

“If you really want to scale up and have a successful industry, you have to focus on the place that really wants to grow seaweed,” Perkins says. “Alaska has glacial runoff from the mountains, not a lot of heavy industry. It is a clean, pristine environment.”

No time to waste 

Right from the beginning, Perkins had a clear vision: The startup wouldn’t grow seaweed but would become a vital link in the supply chain. Hence, the company isn’t making end products.

Macro Oceans has pioneered an approach to extract the target carbohydrates and other valuable compounds from the kelp. These extracted compounds can be then turned into various low-carbon chemicals for customers in the cosmetics, materials and food sectors.

Leftover pulp gets repurposed into raw materials for the packaging industry. In 2024, Macro Oceans completed a $7.5 million seed funding round and acquired seaweed processing and biomaterial supplier, Everything Seaweed.

“In the seaweed world, everybody was trying to vertically integrate,” Perkins says. “Seaweed farmers were trying to make cosmetic brands. But that’s difficult. You need a lot of capital, time and three different businesses all together — and you’ve reduced your probability of being successful. We avoided that model and focused narrowly on what we could be good at, which is processing and making products for other companies.”

One such California company at the forefront of the blue economy is Sway, based in San Leandro, which offers a growing portfolio of seaweed-based compostable products to replace plastics and support ocean health.

“There’s no denying our world’s plastic problem,” said Julia Marsh, CEO and co-founder of Sway in a statement. “Plastics have seeped into our deepest seafloors, highest mountain peaks and the very air we breathe. Beyond its pervasive pollution, plastic comes from petroleum, fueling the climate crisis at every step of its toxic life cycle.”

The company sources seaweed from a vetted global network of ocean farms and processors, including Macro Oceans. The team at Sway envisions a world where every polybag, pouch and wrapper can revive ocean ecosystems, capture carbon, support coastal communities through job creation and enrich the soil after use. By expanding the use of seaweed-based materials, the company believes these opportunities are within reach.

Untapped resource

While seaweed-based materials may be poised to revolutionize countless industries, scientific advancements require equally groundbreaking infrastructure. 

In San Pedro, AltaSea is turning 35 acres at the Port of Los Angeles into an innovation campus for the blue economy. The port, once a hub for ships and warehouses, became obsolete due to containers. With support from the Annenberg Foundation, the Port, state and other donors, AltaSea aims to transform the space into a marine research center, fostering job creation and scientific collaboration. The goal is to bring the brightest minds together to find sustainable solutions for the ocean.

The campus will feature massive tanks growing seawater kelp, a seed bank for preserving species and various research initiatives. Seaweed is just one facet of exploration, but its potential cannot be understated, says Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of AltaSea.

“I think it’s the most untapped resource on the planet, and it’s just now beginning to be understood,” Tamminen says. “Thirty to 40 years ago, we didn’t know how to turn sunlight into solar power, and look how much we have today. This is the same trajectory seaweed is on, and it will be very sustainable for the future.”

Recognizing the challenges faced by farmers, GreenWave decided to support the growth of the blue economy by acting as a bridge between farmers and companies.

Founded in 2014, the Connecticut-based nonprofit started by training regenerative farmers on a small scale, connecting them with markets and buyers. The program grew quickly. The waiting list ballooned to 8,000 people. In 2022, the launch of its Regenerative Ocean Farming Hub has allowed the organization to reach thousands of people across coasts and internationally, says Kendall Barbery, GreenWave’s director of partnerships and program development.

In California, where the permitting process for seaweed farming is one of the most rigorous and expensive in the U.S., GreenWave focused on establishing a farm in Humboldt Bay, where there is a small cluster of sites pre-permitted for seaweed cultivation. 

“We’ve been laser focused on getting a farm in the water in California to demonstrate what’s possible,” Barbery says.

Outside of Humboldt Bay, she says, the leasing and permitting process can take years and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the state level, the process is more transparent now than it was a few years ago. In 2020, the team successfully implemented a pilot project and installed the first commercially permitted bull kelp farm in California. 

GreenWave sees potential for expansion in this market. Of all of the users on its online hub, California residents constitute the largest user group, Barbery says.

“If we’re going to scale and have an impact as a climate solution, we need to be able to grow at a greater scale than we currently do,” she says. “There are tons of opportunities in California, but we want to make sure we go for it carefully.”

Testing the waters

At UC Davis, Ermias Kebreab, an associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, has been exploring seaweed as a method to cut methane emissions. This path began following a study by James Cook University scientists, in which red seaweed stood out for its potential to reduce methane emissions.

Kebreab and his team replicated the Australian lab test and did their own study with real cows, which he says had not been done before. They found that, with high doses of seaweed, the cows ate less. So they tried a more concentrated form of bromoform, which the Australian scientists identified as the key compound in the seaweed. This stronger form, Kebreab says, increased efficacy to 80 percent.

Now, as more startups are producing bromoform, Kebreab is conducting trials to see if their product is as effective as seaweed. Both manufacturers of seaweed and synthetic bromoform are using oil as a carrier for the active ingredient. Currently in the U.S., he says, synthetic bromoform cannot be used as feed additive. (Of course, claims of methane reduction need FDA verification.) Time is critical to reduce the impact of animal agriculture on emissions. Seaweed shows huge potential, he says, but safety testing is still underway.

“Right now, we don’t have much time to act and try to reduce the impact of animal agriculture on any sector in terms of reduction of emissions,” Kebreab says. “Seaweed has huge potential. We have to make sure it’s safe. There’s still work that has to be done to make sure it’s safe for animals, you and I, and the environment.” 

Stay up to date on business in the Capital Region: Subscribe to the Comstock’s newsletter today.