County Governor Shin Woo-cheol Visits NASA, Promotes the Excellence of Seaweed to the World

Wando County-NASA Collaborate on Seaweed Blue Carbon Certification

Shin Woo-cheol, the governor of Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, the largest seaweed production area in Korea, visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States to promote the excellence of seaweed.

According to Wando-gun on the 26th, Shin Woo-cheol recently visited NASA and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), an agency under the U.S. Department of Energy.

Shin Woo-cheol, Wando County Governor, visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. Photo by Wando County

This visit was made to promote the excellence of seaweed and discuss seaweed blue carbon certification and research with officials from NASA and ARPA-E, as global interest in seaweed as a health food, future food source, and blue carbon is increasing.

In 2021, NASA released satellite images of Wando’s seaweed farms, highlighting that the warm temperatures and gentle tidal differences provide optimal conditions for seaweed farming and described it as environmentally friendly, which attracted attention.

Governor Shin personally explained in English to officials at NASA and ARPA-E about Wando’s seaweed farming technology, the excellence of seaweed, and the value of seaweed blue carbon (carbon absorbed by marine ecosystems). Wando-gun is the first local government in Korea to hold practical consultations with NASA on a specific industry.

Governor Shin requested, “To respond to climate change, please re-examine Wando’s seaweed farms so that seaweed can be certified as blue carbon.” In response, Laura Lorenzoni, head of marine biology and biogeochemistry at NASA, agreed to cooperate.

Wando County Governor Shin Woo-cheol met with officials from NASA and ARPA-E to discuss seaweed blue carbon certification and research. Photo by Wando County

ARPA-E visited Wando-gun in January to establish the ‘Offshore Seaweed Farming Technology System,’ a Korea-U.S. Department of Energy international joint research and development project. The ‘Offshore Seaweed Farming Technology System’ is a project to build automated and mechanized facilities offshore to cultivate large brown algae using buoyancy and sinking methods. Cutting-edge farming technology will be applied for mass biomass production using seaweed and blue carbon discovery.

Governor Shin discussed cooperation plans and specific project implementation plans with Evelyn Wang, director of ARPA-E, and other officials.

Once the project is completed, the county plans to utilize seaweed produced through offshore farming as materials for the marine bioindustry and future energy sources. It is expected that if seaweed is recognized as blue carbon, seaweed farming will contribute to carbon neutrality.

Governor Shin said, “I thank the officials of the Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion (KIMST) who cooperated with the visits to the two U.S. agencies,” and added, “We will strive to ensure that global interest in Wando seaweed can also help pioneer overseas markets.”