Battling Climate Change with Seaweed
Interview with founder of Maripure, Damien Jelstrup Balkin
Damien Jelstrup Balkin, Founder and CEO of Maripure.
Welcome to Maripure in Aalborg
In today's world, where environmental concerns are everywhere, innovative solutions are urgently needed to combat climate change. Maripure is a pioneering venture from Aalborg that has set its sights on revolutionizing agriculture by harnessing the power of seaweed.
Agriculture's Emissions Challenge
Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, with cattle farming playing a central role due to methane production. Damien Jelstrup Balkin founder of Maripure might have an answer:
- Today, almost 40% of emissions come from the agricultural sector. Specifically, from methane emissions from cattle.
- We are developing a nature-based solution using seaweed to reduce these emissions by at least 80%.
The Red Seaweed
- At Maripure, our focus is on the group of seaweed known as Red Seaweed.
- We have developed an airlift photobioreactor with a capacity of up to 6000 liters." This technology allows precise control of the growth environment, optimizing the seaweed's development.
- It allows us to control the abiotic growth factors like nutrients, and temperature so that we can optimize the growth and performance of the seaweed.
- What we do here at Maripure is first cultivate this targeted seaweed. And the reason we do this is because there isn't really an international supply chain for it. So, we can generate our own raw material.
- And then the second stage is biorefining where we look to extract the key compounds that we're looking for. And it's those compounds become the key ingredient that go off to the cattle feed
Collaborative Partnerships
- It was important for us to assemble the right collaborative group. And so we've been able to work with a number of Danish universities, Aalborg University, DTU or Aarhus University, and then brought also in key industry players from the feed industry such as DLG and also from the beef and dairy industry such as Danish Crown and Thise
- We have big ambitions for the company. We believe there is a role not only in Denmark but throughout Europe's 80 million cattle. And we know that Europe is a great place to be and Denmark in particular, for its move towards a low carbon future.
The companies say:
EMD International
The Energy City Aalborg
For over 35 years, EMD International A/S has been an essential part of Aalborg's energy landscape. This software and consulting company specializes in calculations and design within the realm of renewable energy.
The Aalborg history lives on in Alfa Laval
Aalborg csp - Aalborg equals Green Energy
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