EU funds 'green energy' seaweed study

Harvesting seaweed to turn into ’green’ energy is to be researched by a multinational team of experts, it was announced today.

The European Union is providing over €5m to fund the pioneering project in Ireland, the North and Scotland.

Experts will look at how renewable energy can be created from seaweed and marine algae in the shared seas around the British Isles.

What has been dubbed ’mari-fuel’ made from seaweed would be an alternative to agri-fuel production from land-based plants.

The Scottish Association for Marine Sciences in Oban will lead development work on the project in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, and the Institutes of Technology in Dundalk and Sligo.