An automated ‘sea combine’ for harvesting seaweed at scale

Indian company Sea6 Energy has developed an easier way to farm seaweed, using an automated “sea combine”. The start-up has established a series of floating seaweed farms off the coast of Bali, Indonesia. The seaweed is attached to rope lines, as in traditional farming, but the sea combine, which resembles a large catamaran without sails, travels back and forth through the lines, harvesting and replanting the seaweed automatically.

Sea6’s technology is designed to allow seaweed farming to scale up – a necessary precursor to the wide-scale use of seaweed as a biofuel. Seaweed farming also avoids many of the sustainability issues involved in land-based agriculture—there is no need for irrigation or fertiliser, and the seaweed grows incredibly rapidly – as much as two feet a day.

Springwise