UK’s first commercial seaweed farm set to begin production

The first commercial-scale UK seaweed farm is scheduled to be scheduled in Argyll off the coast of Scotland in late summer 2015.

The new facility, planned by scientists at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, will be run as a demonstration project that will help shape the UK’s fledling seaweed cultivation sector.

Seven native seaweed varieties will be planted at the farm, with an expected capacity to produce up to 24 tonnes of plant material per year.

In addition to its uses in food, agriculture, and cosmetics industry, there is growing interest in using seaweed for biofuels and bioenergy production.

Seaweed can be fermented to produce ethanol or used in anaerobic digestion plants to create methane gas.