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fluffy_assassins t1_j8rtj47 wrote

How is Amazon investing 1.5 million dollars news? They make that much in like one hour.

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For_All_Humanity OP t1_j8rtv6t wrote

Probably less than an hour, what’s more important is the project. Dual usage of offshore wind farms for seaweed farming could have great benefits as noted in the article. Not only can it provide more jobs making the farm more attractive, but it can serve as animal feed, clothing materials, an alternative for plastic, or just sit as a carbon sink.

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Aggravating-Bottle78 t1_j8s3efh wrote

Exactly, very few input costs, just ropes, nets no herbicides, fertlizer and you dont have to own land just get a licence for a bit of ocean. A small startup investment cost. Given the worsening drought in California and other parts of the US you dont have to worry about water.

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esprit-de-lescalier t1_j8rx137 wrote

The bigger question is why is Amazon investing in seaweed of all things. Wind farm I can understand: cheap electricity to run their datacenters, but seaweed?!

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Cheapskate-DM t1_j8s1dgb wrote

Wind farm is free real estate. 🤷‍♂️ frankly this kind of double-dipping is fucking great and we should encourage more of it!

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n3w4cc01_1nt t1_j8s67me wrote

it's cheap and requires basically nothing but fish poop to grow. for example they could make a seaweed bed next to a tilapia farm

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>“By farming just two per cent of the ocean, we could provide enough protein to feed a world population of 12 billion people. Seaweed is extremely protein rich, low in fat, low in carbohydrates, and rich in vitamins, zinc and iron”.

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Cindexxx t1_j8tiard wrote

Too bad the iodine would kill us all lol. I less there's a lower iodine one. Thyroid issues are no joke.

I still think it's a great project, to be clear. It's just not a complete solution; it is a great part of a complete solution though.

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n3w4cc01_1nt t1_j8u9gop wrote

it's possible to isolate proteins and vitamins for cheap. the protein helps people feel full then the rest can be taken care of with hydroponics which waste less resources than open farms. another thing they can do is get corn farmers to grow sugar beets to replace hfcs. there are so many options to boost the economy, make healthier foods, and end hunger out there.

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Aggravating-Bottle78 t1_j8s2mz3 wrote

One potential use is co2 sequestration (if you sink it) as kelp grows way faster than trees (several feet in a day) It can also be a cheap livestock feed. And it can grow with very few input costs (no herbicide, fertilizer) all you need is an area of ocean, some ropes nets etc. And it will grow in winter. Theres a Canadian guy former fisherman who has been building a market for it as well. Often it can include mussels and oyster farms.

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_j8sotkr wrote

There are droughts all over. Growing stuff in seawater gets pretty interesting. There are a lot of things you can do with seaweed besides eating. Heck if nothing else you can make fertilizer out of it, mined sources of potassium are running out as it mostly ends up in the ocean.

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[deleted] t1_j8t6mb0 wrote

Probably just smart vertical investment based on the cost/demand for seaweed or perhaps a way to funnel losses off one project onto cost of operation of another while getting a tax break.

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Riversntallbuildings t1_j8u20qm wrote

I’m sure it’s proof of value/concept to understand the challenges and market dynamics.

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UghKakis t1_j8rxzqy wrote

How about Amazon just buy the Amazon and make it a world heritage site

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For_All_Humanity OP t1_j8rt3qb wrote

>Web giant Amazon will fund what's billed as a world-first commercial-scale scheme to grow seaweed between offshore wind turbines, said the team planning the venture.

>Amazon will give Dutch non-profit North Sea Farmers €1.5m ($1.6m) to develop the eco project, which could be up and running by the end of 2023 covering 10 hectares in the North Sea off the Netherlands.

>North Sea Farmers is currently in final talks with developers in the Borssele and Hollandse Kust zones over which project will host North Sea Farm 1, slated to produce 6,000kg of fresh seaweed in its first year.

>The first project will serve markets for seaweed-based products that range from animal feeds to cosmetics, and research the ability of seaweed to act as a natural sequestration tool for carbon.

>Roeland Donker, Netherlands country manager for Amazon in the Netherlands said: "Like trees, as seaweed grows it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, and it can be used to create biodegradable packaging, as well as food and fashion products.”

>The money will come from the web giant's climate fund.

>North Sea Farm 1 is the latest move in a growing effort to harmonise offshore wind development with aquaculture.

>Other pilot projects are slated for the North Seawhile China has unveiled plans for unified offshore wind and fish farming off Shandong province.

>However, the offshore wind sector has also sometimes found itself at odds with local fishing industries, with some projects facing stiff opposition.

While 6000kg isn’t a lot of seaweed, it is an interesting example of how we can see dual use in our clean energy projects as noted by the article. Hopefully projects like this can become a blueprint for future endeavors and works out well. Both for us and the planet.

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monkeywaffles t1_j8vkmp2 wrote

Or, pessimistically, it's a way to try to change public perception of unpopular windfarms that will displace local fishing jobs, under guise of being green, and letting large corporations make more claim to open waters or buffer zone around 'their' claim to keep folks out.

Now, I'm not saying it's bad or wrong to put up wind, I frankly don't know enough about it.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/offshore-wind-energy/fishing-community-impacts

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GreatBigJerk t1_j8z3djz wrote

I don't think offshore wind farms are unpopular. If anything, displacing fishermen is a good thing. Fishing is unsustainable at the current scale.

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monkeywaffles t1_j8zaugf wrote

I was just going off that NOAA page I linked that says that lists several concerns with them. You can read them yourself.

I've also seen some wild claims being thrown around that they can kill or confuse whales, that NOAA said there was no evidence yet for, just a lotta dead whales for unknown reasons. Almost certainly bullshit (claims of it being wind related), but to claim there's nobody bringing up complaints is odd.

Also, while you may not think fishing sustainable, the coastal towns that rely on fishing may still feel that disruption of their way of life and loss of jobs to be a problem, and even destruction of coal mining towns and the fallout there is used politically.

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drewbles82 t1_j8s5hi8 wrote

is that a typo 1.6 million. that's like the equivalent of me somehow giving half a penny to something

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zedemer t1_j8s6916 wrote

Exactly. That should not really be news. I mean it's better than nothing, but i wouldn't expect to be in the news for giving a homeless person a few bucks

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[deleted] t1_j8t74bg wrote

It's an experimental idea so why would the investment be big? Seems like your just endorsing waste really. You gotta prove this stuff works, not just throw money at things and pray.

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zedemer t1_j8ta63l wrote

Because it's a nothing burger investment. Here's an experiment: I want to see if 10$ can change the life of a homeless person. QUICK! Get the media!

If you haven't caught the issue: it's the media attention for this investment which is literal pocket change for Amazon. If a person or entity worth only a few millions decided to make this investment, then I'd agree it's worth highlighting.

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Riversntallbuildings t1_j8u1vwl wrote

Now this is cool!

I have no doubt the sea life will appreciate more food and ecosystems to hide in from predators.

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tenderooskies t1_j8ut4kq wrote

in the time it took me to type this, amazon made almost as much the donated to this - absolute PR shitshow

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OriginalMrMuchacho t1_j8v2thv wrote

Soylent Green is people.

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This is a sentence that has been added because this sub has character limits. To avoid those limits, here is another sentence. To shore up the previous sentences, this third sentence has also been added. Also, this last sentence ends in a period.

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FuturologyBot t1_j8rxlbu wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/For_All_Humanity:

>Web giant Amazon will fund what's billed as a world-first commercial-scale scheme to grow seaweed between offshore wind turbines, said the team planning the venture.

>Amazon will give Dutch non-profit North Sea Farmers €1.5m ($1.6m) to develop the eco project, which could be up and running by the end of 2023 covering 10 hectares in the North Sea off the Netherlands.

>North Sea Farmers is currently in final talks with developers in the Borssele and Hollandse Kust zones over which project will host North Sea Farm 1, slated to produce 6,000kg of fresh seaweed in its first year.

>The first project will serve markets for seaweed-based products that range from animal feeds to cosmetics, and research the ability of seaweed to act as a natural sequestration tool for carbon.

>Roeland Donker, Netherlands country manager for Amazon in the Netherlands said: "Like trees, as seaweed grows it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, and it can be used to create biodegradable packaging, as well as food and fashion products.”

>The money will come from the web giant's climate fund.

>North Sea Farm 1 is the latest move in a growing effort to harmonise offshore wind development with aquaculture.

>Other pilot projects are slated for the North Seawhile China has unveiled plans for unified offshore wind and fish farming off Shandong province.

>However, the offshore wind sector has also sometimes found itself at odds with local fishing industries, with some projects facing stiff opposition.

While 6000kg isn’t a lot of seaweed, it is an interesting example of how we can see dual use in our clean energy projects as noted by the article. Hopefully projects like this can become a blueprint for future endeavors and works out well. Both for us and the planet.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/113rvd4/amazon_puts_16m_behind_worldfirst_plan_to_harvest/j8rt3qb/

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IntradepartmentalMoa t1_j8tnd02 wrote

Lame. This isn’t news. This is some low-investment greenwashing from Amazon.

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lolsup1 t1_j8tyyjp wrote

How much revenue does Amazon generate in a single second? I’d imagine it’s more than $1.6 million

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bigrhed t1_j8sgxvq wrote

That's rounding error money for Amazon. Still cool but like... come on. Put some actual cash behind it.

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[deleted] t1_j8t77om wrote

The cheaper they can do it the more viable it is, so start small and work up is often the best plan.

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