Blue Growth – optimizing crops of the sea

The project is financed by the Danish Agency for Science and Innovation.

The potential for growth in Danish companies working with blue biomass, especially seaweed and seafood, have recently gained huge interest, from e.g. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, The Danish Nature Agency and The Danish Agricultural Agency along with The National Bioeconomy Panel. The latter has developed “Recommendations concerning value chains based on blue biomass with special focus on value chains about mussels and seaweed” in 2016.

Based on this, the Danish Agency for Science and Innovation has appropriated funds for the project “Blue growth – optimizing crops of the sea”. Participants in the project are the innovation networks INBIOM, FOODNetwork and Danish Materials Network (DMN) along with the research institutions Aarhus University (AU), Aalborg University (AAU) and Danish Teknological Institute (DTI).

In the first stage of the project is a specific registration of the most important productions, potentials, and not least challenges in terms of better exploitation and value increase of the blue biomasses performed.

The report, which is limited to seaweed, seafood and starfish, describes the possibilities for these commodities in relation to food, livestock feed and materials for productions systems, equipment for processing along with packing material.

In the second stage of the project new activities are starting, where interested companies have the possibility to participate and get part of the funds in a new pool for demonstration of business and growth possibilities in the field of seaweed and seafood.
This could be in relation to development of picketing material, tailored for these commodities, so the products stay fresh and elongated durability, which can open up for new food markets and reduce food waste.

The pool can be used to gain new knowledge of a materials that could be relevant according to the blue growth concept. The knowledge can be gained from research institutions, as the project has to include both the industry and universities/GTS institutes (Research and Technology Organizations).

DMN members can read publications about the project in Danish here >

For further information, please contact:

• Dorte Walzl Bælum
• Network Director
• B.Sc. Chem. Eng., M.Sc. in Business
• M: 60 35 19 90
• E: dwb@dmn-net.com