What climatetech can learn from the oceans

On the Catalyst with Shayle Kann podcast this week:

So you want to build an offshore wind farm. Are you prepared to manage the marine-ecosystem impacts of construction? What about monitoring and protecting underwater electrical cables?

Or maybe you want to decarbonize shipping. Do you know how to trace low-carbon fuel through ports or maintain storage tanks in marine environments? How about managing worker safety on the ocean?

These are the kinds of questions that crop up at the intersection of climatetech and something called ​“bluetech,” a term encompassing the spectrum of technologies that touch the oceans. And this marine-based expertise may prove invaluable to climate solutions. 

In this episode, Shayle talks to Alissa Peterson, co-founder and chief executive officer of SeaAhead, an organization that supports and incubates bluetech companies. They survey a range of technologies, covering topics including:

• Alternative low-carbon fuels for shipping, such as ammonia, methanol and hydrogen.
• Alternative proteins, fisheries and kelp.
• Oceanic carbon removal, such as ocean alkalinity enhancement and sinking kelp to the bottom of the seabed 
• Whether the buildout of large-scale coastal infrastructure in the U.S., including offshore wind, will suffer the same fate as long-distance transmission lines and stall due to a complex and draconian regulatory environment.

Recommended Resources:

• Canary Media: Zero-emissions cargo shipping catches on in cities and port communities
• Canary Media: Offshore wind installations surged threefold last year
• SeaAhead : Innovation in Offshore Wind Reverse Pitch
• MIT Technology Review: Companies hoping to grow carbon-sucking kelp may be rushing ahead of the science

Catalyst is a production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

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