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the production of 5 product types in a two-staged process as proposed by ECN and WUR. See figure. Figure 0.27 Seaweed production176 Global efforts to harness energy form macroalgae are still in a research and pilot phase. Some commercial experience exists on digestion of seaweed removed from beaches to form bio methane. Research is actively done in Europe, Japan and the United States. In Europe research is generally in the hands of the large energy and sea oriented institutes including the Energy Research Centre (ECN) of Netherlands, Wageningen University, SAMS in Scotland and IFREMER in France. Also SME start-ups like Hortimare in the Netherlands and Norway and OceanHarvest in Ireland are investing in research. Almost all research is aimed at the large scale cultivation of macroalgae (seaweed) for the production of biofuel, in combination with the production of proteins and chemical building blocks. Large scale production of seaweed is possible in eutrophicated seas like the North Sea. The seaweed grows on lines, nets or sheets, a few meters below the surface. Another approach is proposed by ECN and others177. ECN propose to use a floating seaweed species Sargassum natans or Sargassum fluitans. These seaweed species grow in the tropical gyres around the world. The ECN178 research suggests that it should be possible to cultivate these seaweed in very large fields without using any structure or boundary. Harvesting is done by large ships with harvester arms. 176Energy Research Centre (ECN) and Wageningen University Research (WUR) 177 For example David P. Chynoweth, 2005, Renewable biomethane from land and ocean energy crops and organic wastes, Hort Science. 178 W.J. Lenstra, J.W. van Hal & J.H. Reith, 2011, Ocean Seaweed Biomass For large scale biofuel production, Presented at the Ocean Seaweed Biomass, Bremerhaven, Germany (Conference 5-7 September 2011) Study in support of Impact Assessment work on Blue Biotechnology 141

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