A large seaweed research project will include Faroese company Ocean Rainforest. In addition to research funding, the company will benefit from further knowledge on the refining of seaweed, according to the company’s owner Ólavur Gregersen in an interview with Faroese radio.
The Faroese seaweed farming company Ocean Rainforest is one of several partners commissioned by the Danish Innovation Fund to research seaweed farming in Faroese and Danish waters. Other partners include the Danish Technological Institute, and most of the major universities in Denmark.
The project is planned to extend over the next four and a half years and will examine possibilities in farming seaweed to be used in foods, animal feed and in the cosmetic industry. DKK25 million are earmarked for the project.
‘We will collect samples and look at how the seaweed grows and under which circumstances it grows best. Those samples will be included in the research project,’ said Ólavur Gregersen.
Ocean Rainforest is already selling seaweed for food and cosmetics production in Europe, and the company is also involved in several other research projects. From this project Ólavur Gregersen is especially interested in expanding the knowledge on the biorefining of seaweed, which is the most complete utilisation of biomass possible, and how to make that process commercially viable.
