Rewilding Oceans & Capturing Carbon: The Power of Kelp for Climate and Agriculture
0x faster carbon capture than the rainforest – this particular species of kelp (macrocystis pyrifera) grows 50 cm / day – quicker than bamboo, and is one of the fastest growing organisms.
Anouk Bosman with Kelp Blue is cultivating Giant Kelp on large-scale, offshore structures to re-wild oceans, lock away carbon, and advance the agriculture transition to sustainable practices.
“If 10% of the ocean floor were forested with seaweed, we’d take up all the carbon to reach the 2030 goals. Plus kelp forest attracts 800 plus marine biodiversity species.”
Kelp Blue is a for-profit and a four-profit model: 4 types of returns – return on inspiration (inspire others), return on social capital, return on natural capital, and return on financial capital.
Allies she is looking to connect with:
- Distributors of sustainable agriculture products – green, chemical-free products
- Partners in Europe, US, and Asia that are interested in regenerative agriculture
Podcast Transcript
Jacob: Welcome to Impact Stories. I’m here with Anouk. Please introduce yourself.
Anouk: Hi. My name is Anouk, Head of Marketing at Kelp Blue. And I’m really excited to be here today.
Jacob: Tell me about the good you’re trying to do in the world with Kelp Blue.
Anouk: We are cultivating seaweed on large scale offshore platforms in the ocean. We are literally building forests. The type of seaweed that we grow is a very particular kind. It’s called giant kelp or the Latin name Macrocystis pyrifera.
There’s about 23,000 different types of seaweed, this particular one is important to mention. It grows about 50 centimeters a day. So that means that we have forests of about 15 to 20 meters growing vertically to the ocean surface and from there it starts growing horizontally. That gives a huge boost to the marine biodiversity and also captures a lot of carbon.
Jacob: Give [00:01:00] me a sense of how much carbon.
Anouk: We’re working together with LCA or Gold Standard to actually really measure how much carbon that is exactly. But for now, what we found and what literature has found is that this type of seaweed can capture about 10 times the amount that a rain forest can capture by square meter.
Jacob: What are the challenges with kelp? Why isn’t everybody doing kelp, what are the downsides, or what are the externalities that you find?
Anouk: it’s very costly to put this out in the oceans. It has to grow on certain structures that are like floating into the water. On top of that, the seaweed only grows in water temperatures that are between 8 and 12 degrees Celsius. So you cannot grow it anywhere you want, it has to be in these cold temperatures.
It’s very difficult for people to start growing seaweed because, typically, you grow seaweed on twine for a couple of months. And then you take it out, but then all the biodiversity or the carbon is then removed. Which is why we installed platforms about 20 meters above the ocean floor so that the biodiversity can still pass underneath. Basically, when you have those platforms there’s like twines going from one [00:02:00] part to the other. So that the giant kelp can use as a hold fast to grow on. If you would just start growing it from the bottom of the ocean, then the seaweed wouldn’t have a hold fast to grow from. And then from the platforms onward, it will grow up, which is not only time, but also financial resources.
Jacob: Tell me about the business model.
Anouk: With Kelp Blue, we trim the top 10 percent of the seaweed. And we process it into our own local factories into biostimulants. A biostimulant is used in the agricultural industry, which improves the yield or the bricks of the farmers, and also improves the soil health.
So our biostimulant is currently being sold to farmers in Europe, or to distributors, and that will then generate revenue. With that revenue, we plant more kelp in the ocean so we can capture more carbon and boost marine biodiversity.
Jacob: This is a for-profit venture, not an NGO?
Anouk: Exactly, at Kelp Blue we operate under a four return framework. Anything we do has to go through these four returns. We have the return on inspiration. [00:03:00] Anything we do has to inspire others or our partners need to inspire others as well. There’s a return on social capital which means that we only hire locally and our ratio man and women is balanced. We have a return on natural capital. Our biostimulant, which also reduces the amount of chemical fertilizers, which depletes the soils. And then we have the financial return, which is showing our investors that this type of business is actually viable and that we can sustain ourselves. Show the world that you can do good for the planet and good for business
Jacob: Love that, love the four returns model. Where are you at in that journey? Is this still concept, is it already been in operation for a long time?
Anouk: Yeah, so Kelp Blue was founded about five years ago. by Daniel and Caroline. They both have about 20 to 30 years of experience, one in engineering and the other in marketing. And we currently have seaweed growing in Namibia, New Zealand, and Alaska. We are selling our biostimulants to farmers now in Europe, where we have the CE registration.
So it’s ongoing, we’re live. We’ve been live for a [00:04:00] while.
Jacob: So what is it that you are most looking for right now?
Anouk: We are currently looking for partners who are willing to help us make that transition to regenerative agriculture. Partners in Europe or in the US, in Asia, wherever. Because it’s one thing to do it alone, but that’s not really the goal. We want to work with inspiring people, but also inspire others. We want to foster those collaborations and want to make an even bigger impact with people.
Jacob: So describe for me what an ideal partner would look like.
Anouk: Well, for example, we are working together with distributors who would distribute our products, Stimblue+ to farmers. So that farmers have access to natural and green chemical-free products. That’s the best partnership we could get.
Anyone interested in the actual aquaculture site is super welcome to reach out to us. We are very happy to tell anyone about our kelp forests and show them how they can potentially do the same. You can visit our website and there, everything is explained. And if you have more questions, then we also give people a tour. You can come [00:05:00] down to Namibia, Luderitz is the South of Namibia, and we can show you our operations.
Jacob: As far as scalability, what is the potential for the growth here? Have you tapped out all of the places that have this Goldilocks zone of just the right temperatures and right depth?
Anouk: No, no, no, not really, this can grow way more than what we currently have. There’s a big part in Latin America where we can also grow around Chile, for example, but also around Tanzania or South Africa. More parts in New Zealand, where we currently are not growing yet.
No, we are really this far of understanding how it works and where we can grow this exactly. So that’s why we also work together with a sister company, which is an NGO called the Kelp Forest Foundation. They are doing research about the type of seaweed that we grow. That is then published online, is open sourced so anyone can grow themselves on the different locations where they find an opportunity.
Jacob: On the investor side, are you guys actively courting more investment or where are you at in that process?
Anouk: We have already secured about 25 million in investments and are currently not [00:06:00] looking for any opportunities. We will start this year in 2025, we are launching the first blue bonds program in Africa. Which basically will give people the opportunity to invest in the blue bonds.
Jacob: What are the hurdles that you’re facing?
Anouk: When you think about seaweed, people usually think about the nasty things that come in tickle your toes when you’re swimming or the smelly seaweed laying on the beach, so a big part is education. Why is seaweed good, or why is this particular type of seaweed so good for the planet? There’s a big role that we play in that.
The agricultural industry is a more traditional industry where knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation. So when there’s a new player involved, it requires some education and sitting down, explaining why this is good and how something from the ocean can help soil health on land.
Jacob: How are your biostimulants different or better than chemical-based fertilizers?
Anouk: In this type of seaweed that we grow, there is a very high alginate, which just means sugar. When you apply our biostimulants, you [00:07:00] will get a reduction in chemical fertilizers. So that means that you will increase your soil health because you’re not putting tons of chemicals on your land, which destroys the fertility.
We do not yet replace the fertilizers completely, but you can see it more as. Fertilizers are, for example, the type of food that you eat, and biostimulants are more the vitamins that you take, you need both.
Jacob: But the value proposition for a farmer would be using your biostimulants, they would need less fertilizer, and the overall soil health will be greater
Anouk: Exactly, exactly. And there’s many countries now, for example, Spain or the UK or the Netherlands, where farmers need to lower their carbon emissions. Using our biostimulants is a perfect solution for them. Chemical fertilizers will not be accepted in many countries in the future.
Jacob: What was that moment in your career when you decided to pivot and start focusing on making the world a better place?
Anouk: Being in marketing myself, I always wondered, okay, where should I put my energy, my [00:08:00] impact? And because I’m doing marketing, it was very easy for me to choose what industry I want to make an impact in? I started in the sports industry but quickly realized that the sports industry is not ready yet for a drastic switch to sustainability.
After that, went to a lot of different lectures and seminars about different natural solutions for the planet, and seaweed was the one solution that stuck out for me. Just because it’s such an under-researched and undervalued resource. It got me reading until late at night and researching about different companies that are doing very impressive things with seaweed. You can make fuel, you can make plastics, you can make foam, leather, biostimulants, food, very inspiring resource for me.
Jacob: As a marketer, what are the biggest messaging challenges you face with Kelp Blue?
Anouk: You have to find the right balance between educating people, but also selling your product. There’s a whole lot of education to be done around seaweed in the agriculture industry. So those are two very different types of audiences. And just making [00:09:00] sure that we can connect those two industries.
In the end, we’re farming seaweed, just like a farmer is farming, I don’t know, tomatoes. We have the same challenges. We just do it in the ocean. So trying to link those two worlds. Because it has not been done before is definitely a challenge, but an exciting one.
Jacob: For you, what would be a big win for this year?
Anouk: We are currently releasing a biostimulant for grapes, a biostimulant for strawberries, a biostimulant for soil health in particular. So if those products are released and transferred to the farmers and we have a positive relationship where farmers and the distributors are all together transitioning to regenerative agriculture. That will be a huge success, with lots of seaweed in the water.
Jacob: If someone was interested in learning more about kelp and the potential there, what resources would you point them to?
Anouk: We have a website which is Kelp Blue K E L P . B L U E. There’s a lot of information there. We’re also active on social media, LinkedIn and Instagram. And I would say if anyone has any questions, then you [00:10:00] can go on to our website and send us a little message on our contact form.
Jacob: Thank you so much for sharing your insight and perspective, and excited to see where you guys go with this.
Anouk: Agreed. Thank you so much for having me tonight and looking forward to talking more.
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