By Karen Scofield Seal
Demand for plant-based food and nutrition is growing. According to recent retail sales data, grocery sales of plant-based foods in place of animal products grew 29% in the U.S. to $5 billion between 2017 and 2019.
Sustainably farmed seaweed could help meet this need, while also providing compostable, marine-safe packaging. UK-based biotech start-up Oceanium has developed innovative, "green and clean" biorefinery technology to make both these things possible.
With grant funding from Innovate UK and seed investment from Sky Ocean Ventures and Katapult Ocean (the latter two being ocean impact VCs), is focusing on scaling up their high-tech, innovative biorefinery and product development to find out more about the start-up's history, development and plans for the future. We spoke to Oceanium's Karen Scofield to find out more about the start-up's history, development and plans for the future.
How Oceanium's technology works. Oceanium
How Did Oceanium Come About?
I met my Co-Founder and our CTO, Dr Charlie Bavington, PhD in May 2018. My background is in partnership and business development, brand-building and marketing. I've worked with (RED), Comic Relief and also run my own successful e-commerce business. After completing a postgraduate certificate at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership, I conducted extensive research on what type of business I could start that would have the most impact and that's when I discovered seaweed. Ever since then, I have been passionate about sharing its environmental and societal benefits.
Charlie is a brilliant biochemist who has been developing and commercializing marine-based products for the past 20 years. He was the Founder of the successful biotech company, GlycoMar, and has extensive experience developing marine-based products for commercial use. He currently has five patents to his name and is about to file two more for Oceanium bio-packaging. I shared my vision of making packaging from seaweed with Charlie, who confirmed that this was possible but that there was also an opportunity to capitalize on all the food and nutritional ingredients in seaweed too. Charlie and I co-founded Oceanium in June 2018, and have been moving forward swiftly ever since.
How Is Oceanium Contributing to the Low-Carbon Economy?
Oceanium's impact mission is to enable the emerging sustainable seaweed farming industry by creating demand for farmed seaweed. Sustainable seaweed farming helps to mitigate climate change via carbon and nitrogen absorption. According to the World Bank, seaweed can absorb 47kg of carbon per wet tonne which equates to approximately one tonne of carbon per hectare annually.
Seaweed farming in Oban, Scotland. Oceanium
Of course, some of that carbon will go back into the system. So we are conducting life-cycle analysis on our process and products so we may improve efficiencies but also to measure and report our impact as we grow and go to market. We are liaising with organizations like Seaweed for Europe and the UN Global Compact Seaweed Manifesto to help quantify this carbon absorption and to ensure this exciting new industry grows in a sustainable and managed fashion.
Seaweed farms protect the seabed from commercial fishing and other harmful practices and create a marine sanctuary for sea life. Seaweed farming also has other immensely positive environmental impacts, as it does not require cleared land, freshwater, insecticide or fertilizer. Our seaweed-based materials can replace resource-intensive food and feedstocks which often contribute to deforestation. In addition, seaweed farms encourage responsible coastal management and create marine protected areas for sealife.
What About the Economic and Societal Impact of Your Business?
Seaweed as a food source will help ensure food security. It's incredibly nutritious and full of vitamins, minerals and protein-essential micronutrients, particularly antioxidants.
The world will require 50–70% more food by 2050 and with increasing drought conditions and decreasing soil quality, seaweed provides a sustainable solution to this challenge.
Seaweed can help close the "protein gap" in the more immediate term: Europe currently imports 70% of its protein but Oceanium plans to process and sell its outputs on a regional basis to reduce transport miles of our products. We aim to contribute towards economic development and job creation in coastal communities by supporting small-scale farmers when purchasing seaweed, promoting best practice farming techniques and helping enable the nascent sustainable seaweed farming industry in the UK, EU and in the developing world.
A pilot trial of Oceanium's proprietary biorefinery process. Oceanium
What Has Been the Impact of COVID-19 on Oceanium?
Oceanium has continued to move forward despite the pandemic. At a start-up there is always plenty to do and we've been working on developing relationships across the value chain, researching and analyzing new opportunities, and conducting research. Interestingly, our nutraceutical product, Fucoidan, has proven to be an effective COVID-19 antiviral in vitro and we are watching this research closely.
What's Next on the Horizon?
Oceanium continues to progress with research and development for our food ingredients (protein and fiber), nutraceuticals (Fucoidan, Beta glucan) and circular life-cycle bio packaging materials (film and board).
We have also begun work on two new Innovate UK grants. The first is focused on further development of the bio-packaging materials; the second looks at maximizing efficiencies across all aspects of the production process, from the seaweed farm to final product development.
Oceanium research associate Andre Rastica at work. Oceanium
We are scaling our innovative biorefinery process – we processed approximately 8 tonnes of wet seaweed in December and have plans for 45 tonnes in 2021.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to build relationships with seaweed farmers in the UK, EU and North America. We are also fundraising for further R&D, patent applications and undergoing regulatory processes as we prepare to launch products in 2021. We are well on our way to "Kelp the World"!
What Resources or Assistance Do You Need to Achieve Your Ambitions That You Currently Don't Have? Is There Any Assistance That the Uplink Community Could Offer?
Definitely. Our nutraceutical products will go to market next year and we are looking for commercial or business development experts in the nutrition and cosmetics space. Importantly, we are also fundraising so always keen to connect with funders and investors!
Reposted with permission from World Economic Forum.
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In a new study, my colleagues Anisha Patel, Francesca Weaks and I estimate that approximately 61.4 million people in the U.S. did not drink their tap water as of 2017-2018. Our research, which was released in preprint format on April 8, 2021, and has not yet been peer reviewed, found that this number has grown sharply in the past several years.
Other research has shown that about 2 million Americans don't have access to clean water. Taking that into account, our findings suggest that about 59 million people have tap water access from either their municipality or private wells or cisterns, but don't drink it. While some may have contaminated water, others may be avoiding water that's actually safe.
Water insecurity is an underrecognized but growing problem in the U.S. Tap water distrust is part of the problem. And it's critical to understand what drives it, because people who don't trust their tap water shift to more expensive and often less healthy options, like bottled water or sugary drinks.
I'm a human biologist and have studied water and health for the past decade in places as diverse as Lowland Bolivia and northern Kenya. Now I run the Water, Health, and Nutrition Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University. To understand water issues, I talk to people and use large datasets to see whether a problem is unique or widespread, and stable or growing.
An Epidemic of Distrust
According to our research, there's a growing epidemic of tap water distrust and disuse in the U.S. In a 2020 study, anthropologist Sera Young and I found that tap water avoidance was declining before the Flint water crisis that began in 2014. In 2015-2016, however, it started to increase again for children.
Our new study found that in 2017-2018, the number of Americans who didn't drink tap water increased at an alarmingly high rate, particularly for Black and Hispanic adults and children. Since 2013-2014 – just before the Flint water crisis began – the prevalence of adults who do not drink their tap water has increased by 40%. Among children, not consuming tap has risen by 63%.
To calculate this change, we used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative survey that releases data in two-year cycles. Sampling weights that use demographic characteristics ensure that the people being sampled are representative of the broader U.S. population.
Racial Disparities in Tap Water Consumption
Communities of color have long experienced environmental injustice across the U.S. Black, Hispanic and Native American residents are more likely to live in environmentally disadvantaged neighborhoods, with exposure to water that violates quality standards.
Our findings reflect these experiences. We calculated that Black and Hispanic children and adults are two to three times more likely to report not drinking their tap water than members of white households. In 2017-2018, roughly 3 out of 10 Black adults and children and nearly 4 of 10 Hispanic adults and children didn't drink their tap water. Approximately 2 of 10 Asian Americans didn't drink from their tap, while only 1 of 10 white Americans didn't drink their tap water.
When children don't drink any water on a given day, research shows that they consume twice as many calories from sugary drinks as children who drink water. Higher sugary drink consumption increases risk of cavities, obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Drinking tap water provides fluoride, which lowers the risk of cavities. Relying on water alternatives is also much more expensive than drinking tap water.
A4: Choosing to drink fluoridated tap water over sugar-sweetened beverages to quench thirst is vital to protecting… https://t.co/3tm8wuWjeZ— Oral Health Watch (@Oral Health Watch)1600795750.0
What Erodes Trust
News reports – particularly high-visibility events like advisories to boil water – lead people to distrust their tap water even after the problem is fixed. For example, a 2019 study showed that water quality violations across the U.S. between 2006 and 2015 led to increases in bottled water purchases in affected counties as a way to avoid tap water, and purchase rates remained elevated after the violation.
The Flint water crisis drew national attention to water insecurity, even though state and federal regulators were slow to respond to residents' complaints there. Soon afterward, lead contamination was found in the water supply of Newark, New Jersey; the city is currently replacing all lead service lines under a legal settlement. Elsewhere, media outlets and advocacy groups have reported finding tap water samples contaminated with industrial chemicals, lead, arsenic and other contaminants.
Many other factors can cause people to distrust their water supply, including smell, taste and appearance, as well as lower income levels. Location is also an issue: Older U.S. cities with aging infrastructure are more prone to water shutoffs and water quality problems.
It's important not to blame people for distrusting what comes out of their tap, because those fears are rooted in history. In my view, addressing water insecurity requires a two-part strategy: ensuring that everyone has access to clean water, and increasing trust so people who have safe water will use it.
Chart: The Conversation / CC BY-ND. Source: AWWA / Morning Consult. Get the data
Building Confidence
As part of his proposed infrastructure plan, President Joe Biden is asking Congress for $111 billion to improve water delivery systems, replace lead pipelines and tackle other contaminants. The plan also proposes improvements for small water systems and underserved communities.
These are critical steps to rebuild trust. Yet, in my view, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should also provide better public education about water quality testing and targeted interventions for vulnerable populations, such as children and underserved communities. Initiatives to simplify and improve water quality reports can help people understand what's in their water and what they can do if they think something is wrong with it.
Chart: The Conversation / CC BY-ND. Source: AWWA / Morning Consult. Get the data
Who delivers those messages is important. In areas like Flint, where former government officials have been indicted on charges including negligence and perjury in connection with the water crisis, the government's word alone won't rebuild trust. Instead, community members can fill this critical role.
Another priority is the 13%-15% of Americans who rely on private well water, which is not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These households are responsible for their own water quality testing. Public funding would help them test it regularly and address any problems.
Public distrust of tap water in the U.S. reflects decades of policies that have reduced access to reliable, safe drinking water in communities of color. Fixing water lines is important, but so is giving people confidence to turn on the tap.
Asher Rosinger is an assistant professor of biobehavioral health, anthropology, and demography and director of the Water, Health, and Nutrition Laboratory at Penn State University.
Disclosure statement: Asher Rosinger receives funding from the National Science Foundation on an unrelated project. This work was supported by the Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professorship funds, and the Penn State Population Research Institute (NICHD P2CHD041025). The funders had no role in the research or interpretation of results.
Reposted with permission from The Conversation.
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