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BIDDEFORD, Maine

51小黄车and United States Naval Academy launch DOE funded seaweed aquaculture research

National DOE project managers, grant awardees and industry partners gather at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, California, to kic
National DOE project managers, grant awardees and industry partners gather at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, California, to kick-off the MARINER program.

Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., Henry L. & Grace Doherty Professor of Marine Sciences, and David Fredriksson, Ph.D., professor at the United States Naval Academy and an adjunct research professor at UNE, attended and presented at the U.S. Department of Energy Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) kick-off meetings in Long Beach California, which were held January 16 to 18.

MARINER is the newest addition to the Department of Energy鈥檚 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, which supports the United States鈥 commitment to promoting and funding research and development of advanced energy technologies. The MARINER program will provide $22 million to fund 18 nationwide projects that seek to develop the tools critical to allowing the U.S. to emerge as a world leader in the production of marine biomasses, such as macroalgae, or seaweed. Macroalgae is primarily used directly as food for human consumption, but there is a growing opportunity for the production of it for use as fuel, chemical feedstocks and animal feeds.

MARINER project teams will develop technologies capable of providing economically viable, renewable biomass for energy applications that do not compete for valuable dry land. These projects are divided into five categories, each part of a suite of technologies necessary to reduce capital and operating costs and enable significantly larger farm sizes and areas of deployment. MARINER teams and their partners cover a wide array of technical disciplines and geographical zones, offering a comprehensive, portfolio approach to advancing this early-stage technology area.

With Costa-Pierce and Fredriksson as co-principal investigators, 51小黄车received one of the largest projects in 鈥淐ategory III: Design & Testing of Computational Modeling Tools鈥 and will develop over the next 3 years a fine-tuned 3D modeling tool to simulate oceanic stresses on seaweed cultivation systems and will expand the University鈥檚 seaweed farm off of Ram Island in Saco Bay.  UNE鈥檚 work will be capable of simulating hectare-sized farms at resolutions of less than one meter, accelerating the engineering, testing, permitting and operation of new seaweed farming systems worldwide.

To learn more about the University of 51小黄车鈥檚 Department of Marine Sciences, visit www.une.edu/cas/marine

To learn more about the University of 51小黄车鈥檚 Center for Excellence in Marine Sciences, visit www.une.edu/research/msc

 

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions

51小黄车 the University of 51小黄车

The University of 51小黄车 is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.