Some Good Eco News-

Norway Turns Ocean Forests Of Seaweed Into Weapons Against Climate Change

Written by Matthew Russell

Off Trøndelag’s coast, long lines of kelp now do double duty. They grow fast. They also lock away carbon. A new pilot farm near Frøya aims to turn that promise into measurable removal of CO₂ from the air, according to DNV.

The site spans 20 hectares and carries up to 55,000 meters of kelp lines. First seedlings went in last November. The goal is proof of concept, then scale.

How the Pilot Works

The three-year Joint Industry Project, JIP Seaweed Carbon Solutions, brings SINTEF together with DNV, Equinor, Aker BP, Wintershall Dea, and Ocean Rainforest, with a total budget of NOK 50 million, Safety4Sea reports.

Researchers expect an initial harvest of about 150 tons of kelp after 8–10 months at sea. Early estimates suggest that biomass could represent roughly 15 tons of captured CO₂. This is a test bed for methods that can be replicated and expanded, DNV explains.

There’s a second step, as kelp becomes biochar. That process stabilizes carbon for the long term and can improve soils on land, SINTEF’s team told Safety4Sea. The project is designed to test both the removal and the storage.

Serene coastal landscape with rocky shores and calm water under a cloudy sky.

A Long History, A New Mission

Seaweed isn’t new here. Norwegians have cultivated kelp since the 18th and 19th centuries for fertilizer and feed. Scientists advanced modern methods in the 1930s, laying the groundwork for today’s farms, according to SeaweedFarming.com. Cold, nutrient-rich waters support species like Laminaria and Saccharina. They grow quickly and draw down dissolved carbon and nitrogen.

The country’s aquaculture backbone also helps. Norway already runs one of the world’s most advanced seafood sectors. That expertise now extends to macroalgae.

Policy, Permits, and Ecosystems

Commercial cultivation began receiving specific permits in 2014, and activity has expanded across several coastal counties, according to a study in Aquaculture International. Researchers detailed the risks that accompany scale: genetic interaction with wild kelp, habitat impacts, disease, and space conflicts. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, where seaweed grows alongside finfish, can recycle nutrients from farms and reduce eutrophication pressures.

Vibrant yellow seaweed covers dark rocky surfaces near shallow water.

Engineering for Open Water

Getting beyond sheltered bays is crucial. One path is the “Seaweed Carrier,” a sheet-like offshore system that lets kelp move with waves in deeper, more exposed water. It supports mechanical harvesting and industrial output without using land, Business Norway explains. The same approach can enhance water quality by absorbing CO₂ and “lost” nutrients.

The Frøya project is small in tonnage but big in intent. It links Norway’s long kelp lineage with new climate tech: fast-growing macroalgae, verified carbon accounting, and durable storage as biochar. If these methods prove reliable at sea and on shore, Norway will have more than a farm. It will have a blueprint for ocean-based carbon removal that others can copy.

Let’s talk about Trump’s affordability pitch falling flatter than job growth….

Epstein Email Hints Trump Was FBI Informant

Schumer ‘Stepping Down’ Rumors Intensify

Right-Wing’s Riley Gaines Grift Exposed

Riley Gaines turned a 5th place tie, not even in the top ranking, into a political money making bigot gig. She has made hundreds of thousands of dollars pushing people to hate trans athletes using misinformation and lies. She is a favorite of republicans to have testify in front of legislatures to help them justify making trans kids lives miserable. Wonder who is funding her? Religious bigots like billionaire Betsy DeVos. The DeVos made their money on pyramid schemes and selling Amway. All in the name of their god they lie, make things up, and misinform the public about trans people. I don’t understand the hate and bile they have for non-straight non-cis people. Makes their god look ugly. Hugs

POTUS’s Place In History

A Statement from Ty Jones Cox at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Taking Away Food Assistance Puts the Trump Administration on the Wrong Side of History

If you care about federal food assistance, it’s been a head-spinning couple of months.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans enacted the largest cuts in history in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and canceled the long-standing annual Department of Agriculture survey that would document the cuts’ harms. But when the government shutdown began, they started expressing concern about risks to SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

It “helps no one” to cut SNAP benefits, said House Budget Committee Republicans. No one should “allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry,” the White House Press Secretary opined — that is “so cruel.”

But as Maya Angelou said: when people show you who they are, believe them the first time.

And sure enough, as the shutdown went on, it became clear that President Trump was not concerned about the millions of people across the U.S. who need SNAP to help cover their grocery bills. They were just pawns in his political battle.

The Trump Administration became so determined to deny people their SNAP benefits that it fought all the way to the Supreme Court, even though the funds were available and it had the legal authority to use them.The Trump Administration became so determined to deny people their SNAP benefits that it fought all the way to the Supreme Court, even though the funds were available and it had the legal authority to use them.

The government has now reopened, and these nutrition programs are thankfully funded until the fall of 2026. The Administration hasn’t let up, though. Agriculture Secretary Rollins — after saying the government would be “failing” people if it didn’t provide SNAP benefits — has resumed her attacks on the program, falsely labeling it “corrupt” and ridden with “fraud.” In reality, SNAP has one of the most rigorous eligibility determination systems of any federal benefit program and SNAP participants must verify their eligibility regularly to stay connected to the program.

There’s a silver lining here: the public is more aware than ever of the value of programs like SNAP. There was a huge outcry and concern over the Trump Administration’s attempts to unlawfully and unnecessarily withhold SNAP benefits. The public won’t soon forget that SNAP benefits were suspended, and they won’t like seeing more people lose their benefits permanently as the food assistance cuts in the Republican megabill get implemented.

There is a long, proud tradition of bipartisan support for food assistance programs in the United States, grounded in a shared belief that no one should go hungry in a country with as many resources as ours. People from coast to coast and everywhere in between still deeply believe that cutting food assistance puts the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans at odds with broadly shared American values and on the wrong side of history.