Turning Wind Farms into Seaweed Farms

Closed to commercial shipping and fishing, offshore wind farms aren't put to much use besides generating clean energy. Ecofys, a Dutch sustainable consulting company, hopes to turn the empty space between turbines into an environment teaming with fish and farmed seaweed.

Last March, the company installed a trial module of steel nets in the North Sea and seeded the nets with native seaweed species. If the trial succeeds, the company says, it will be the first "offshore cultivation of biomass", and a way to produce two renewable resources in the same area. The seaweed could eventually be used for biofuels or as an energy feedstock, or as a replacement for soy protein in fish and livestock feed. It's a win-win situation for the environment, with less land cleared for soy, more nursery habitat for fish, and more clean energy for us humans.

Ecofys will be presenting their proposal at the Transnatural Festival in Amsterdam, from September 7 to October 7.