EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Food and Agriculture

    Algae Farms Could Help Increase Global Food Production by 50% by 2050

    By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
    Updated: October 12, 2022
    Edited by Irma Omerhodzic
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    Seaweed Farm In Taizhou
    Aerial view of farmers working at a seaweed farm on November 24, 2021 in Taizhou. Jiang Youqing / VCG / Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    In order to feed a global population that is expected to increase by more than two billion by 2050, we’re going to have to reconfigure our food system. Microalgae — single-celled photosynthetic microorganisms that live in both seawater and freshwater — could be the food of the future.

    Microalgae are an excellent source of vitamins and packed with protein. Aquaculture cultivation of this nutrient-dense food in seawater along the coastlines of the Global South could contribute to an increase in food production of 50 percent and feed an estimated 10 billion people by 2050, according to a press release by the Cornell Chronicle.

    A new paper, “Transforming the Future of Marine Aquaculture: A Circular Economy Approach,” published in the journal Oceanography, explores the possibility of growing microalgae to help provide humans’ projected future food demands while improving the sustainability of the world’s food supply.

    Climate change, the degradation of the environment, finite areas of arable land and shortages of freshwater all limit the quantity of land-based agriculture the planet can support, the paper said.

    “We have an opportunity to grow food that is highly nutritious, fast-growing, and we can do it in environments where we’re not competing for other uses,” said Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University Charles Greene, who was the senior author of the paper, in the press release. “And because we’re growing it in relatively enclosed and controlled facilities, we don’t have the same kind of environmental impacts.”

    The researchers said growing algae in aquaculture facilities along the coast could be a solution to the limits being put on aquaculture of seaweed, shellfish and fish, as well as the already overfished wild populations.

    According to predictions using a geographic information systems (GIS)-based model developed by Celina Scott-Buechler, a former graduate student at Cornell, the best places for onshore algae farms are the coastal regions, including deserts, of the Global South.

    “Algae can actually become the breadbasket for the Global South,” said Greene in the press release. “In that narrow strip of land, we can produce more than all the protein that the world will need.”

    Algae not only provides omega-3 fatty acids that can be found in fish, it also has minerals and amino acids that are often missing in vegetarian diets.

    It also grows ten times faster than conventional crops and can be grown without wasting fertilizers, half of which can be lost in terrestrial farming through runoff and end up polluting water sources. The self-contained facilities where algae is grown means leftover nutrients can be reused.

    Algae needs carbon dioxide to grow in aquaculture ponds, which can be a plus for the climate crisis.

    “If we use algae in these long-lived structural materials, then we have the potential to be carbon negative, and part of the solution to climate change,” said Greene in the press release.

    Gathering carbon dioxide is an expensive and inefficient endeavor, but experiments are being done with solar technologies to try and improve the process of capturing carbon from the air.

    One major hurdle is pretty basic: will people accept algae as a part of their diets and for use in other contexts?

    Algae can be added to plant-based meat alternatives that now rely on soy and pea, which aren’t as nutritious. Some of the researchers have found that hens who are given feed supplemented with algae lay eggs with triple the amount of omega-3 fatty acids.

    “We believe in the potential of microalgae to reimagine how we eat,” said cofounder of We Are the New Farmers Jonas Guenther, as Grist reported.

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Extent Is Fifth Lowest on Record
      The Arctic sea ice extent for the Northern Hemisphere winter
      By Olivia Rosane
      Blueberries and Green Beans Added to 2023 ‘Dirty Dozen’
      U.S. grocery shoppers take note, it’s that time of year
      By Olivia Rosane
      Antarctic Seabirds Fail to Breed Amid Extreme Weather Events Linked to Climate Change
      Typically, the start of each new year aligns with peak
      By Paige Bennett

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Extent Is Fifth Lowest on Record
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Global Freshwater Demand Will Exceed Supply 40% by 2030, Experts Warn
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 17, 2023
        • Train Derails, Leaks an Estimated 5,000 Gallons of Fuel on Reservation in Washington
          by Paige Bennett
          March 17, 2023
        • Forest Recovery Can Offset Some Tropical Deforestation Emissions, But Not All
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Two Aging UK Coal Plants to Shutter in March Despite Government Requests to Remain on Standby
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Meet Europe’s Latest National Park, A Wild River in the Heart of Albania
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 17, 2023
        • Volkswagen Announces Plans for a More Affordable Electric Car
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 16, 2023
        • Property Values of Homes Near Solar Farms Appraised in New Study
          by Paige Bennett
          March 16, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more