description
- The Nutrient Cycling with Automated Seaweed Cultivation (NCASC)? feasibility project will establish the possibility for estuarine and near estuarine nutrient cycling using seaweed. Lead, SeaGen, will adapt and scale their automated seaweed cultivation rig, the AlgaVator (TRL5), to grow estuarine seaweed species. The seaweed produced will be processed into an optimised seaweed bio fertiliser and tested on 4 English farms within this consortium, who will conduct growth tests on wheat, oats, courgettes and mushrooms. On farm reduction of nutrient leakage will help to alleviate nitrogen and phosphorus levels reaching rivers and waterways in the UK (and globally) but there will remain a desperate need to manage nutrients in waterways for the foreseeable future if we are to reduce environmental degradation and achieve the 40% reduction of nitrogen, phosphate and sediment pollution by 2038\. Products derived from seaweed can both fertilise and act as a bio-stimulant. Studies of seaweed extracts with crops have identified a 28%+ improvement in plant growth. The AlgaVator (TRL5), is the world's first hydrostatic, automated seaweed cultivation system, allowing large-scale, cost-effective seaweed production, in a range of environments. It reduces the cost to grow seaweed, and will bring seaweed bio fertilisers down to a lower price point.