Tomorrow’s offgrid energy maybe seaweed

Why is the United States investing nearly $1.5 million in projects that will help establish large-scale seaweed farms for the purpose of making biofuel? Perhaps, because, it is becoming apparent that the energy of the future will not only shine from the sky.

A US-based newspaper is reporting that the country’s Department Of Energy (DOE) is investing nearly $1.5 million in two projects that will help develop seaweed farms and explore better harvesting methods to optimise yield.

Researchers say seaweed can be processed into a biofuel that can be used to power homes and vehicles. The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program is funding projects across the country to make the large-scale cultivation of seaweed a reality, supporting another alternative to fossil fuel use.

Two of these projects include a $995,978 funding for the Makai Ocean Engineering of Honolulu to help build an ocean simulating model that will aid researchers in designing offshore seaweed farms, and $500,000 went to Kampachi Farms of Kailua-Kona to test harvesting methods for seaweed grown on these farms. Kampachi Farms will also develop an offshore seaweed farm.

The researchers are constantly perfecting renewable energy sources like wind, solar, tidal, among others to allow for greater accessibility. Innovators are looking at seaweed and far beyond to explore novel means of harvesting renewable energy.

But this is by no means the only research ongoing in creating new forms of energy sources. A team of researchers from Fudan University in China has developed a power generator that will be able to convert blood flowing in the body into energy reports Futurism online resource.

The ability to use hydrogen as a fuel has also recently come back into focus with new ways to store hydrogen power and convert water, even seawater, into hydrogen fuel being explored by researchers.

These innovations are making the thought of a fossil fuel free future is possible and each new technological discovery brings humans closer to making that future a reality. It is looking increasingly clear that while solar and wind power may have a large role to play in that clean energy landscape, but they will not be exclusive.