The blue economy

Humanity's relationship with the sea is changing, offering new business opportunities in the process.

fish

The relationship humans have with the world’s oceans is hardly symbiotic. Since the industrial revolution, the sea has served as both a resource to exploit and a dumping ground for our waste.

Every year, we extract enough oil and gas from the ocean bed to provide over 30 per cent of global output, but we also throw some 8 million tons of plastic into our salty waters. We over-fish too: tuna populations have plunged by 90 per cent in recent years.

ocean economy

There is, however, a glimmer of light in the gloom: the Blue Economy.

That’s the label given to a growing number of technologically-advanced commercial and industrial practices that aim to harness what the oceans have to offer in a sustainable way.

“It is more lucrative to protect the oceans than to destroy them,” says Cyrill Gutsch, a New York-based entrepreneur and founder of Parley for the Oceans. “As this becomes increasingly evident, more companies will look for authentic avenues into the blue economy.”

By 2050 there could be more plastic - by weight - in the ocean than fish

Proponents of the Blue Economy believe that oceans can help stimulate growth and protect the environment at the same time – and that the opportunities for new technologies, business models and innovations focused on promoting or restoring ocean health are huge.

plastic

Plastic fantastic

Gutsch founded Parley for the Oceans in response to humans’ flawed relationship with the seas. Much of the organisation’s focus is on non-biodegradable ocean plastic waste. “Plastic is a design failure, one we can fix only if we reinvent the material itself,” he says.

Central to this is giving plastic ocean trash new life – as yarn and fabric for the fashion and luxury industry, polymers for beauty products, or raw materials for use in packaging and construction.

As an example, Parley paired up with sportswear manufacturer Adidas to release a limited-edition running shoe with uppers made from recycled plastic recovered from the sea. And in 2014 the organisation partnered with Bionic Yarn and G-star RAW to create the first denim made from upcycled marine plastic waste. The spring/summer 2015 G-Star “RAW for the Oceans” collection was unveiled by pop superstar Pharrell Williams – both promoting Gutsch’s cause and offering proof that upcycled ocean plastic can be commercially viable.

Precision fishing

Not only are we dumping huge amounts of plastic waste into the oceans, but we are also over-fishing many species to oblivion. By 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean – by weight – than fish, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a organisation that advocates sustainable business practices.

Although governments are urging the industry to adopt more sustainable ways of fishing, destructive methods such as bottom trawling – which harms the seabed and is an indiscriminate killer of sea creatures – persist around the world.

In 2007, 360 million kilograms of marine life were captured in the US; only 10 per cent was usable, all while causing severe collateral damage to seafloor ecosystems.

There are alternatives, however.

A New Zealand-based organisation called Precision Seafood Harvesting has developed a new technology to replace trawl nets that increases the probability of survival for bycatch, fish that is thrown back into the sea, by up to 70 per cent.

“The core technology is a membrane construct harvest system that replaces the mesh that would normally collect fish at the end of traditional trawl gear,” explains its chief executive officer David Woods. He claims the system not only improves the survival rates of unwanted fish but also the quality of fish being retained for market.

Now testing the new harvest and handling systems aboard fishing vessels, Woods says that attitudes towards fish handling among his crews have changed after working with a fish quality that was previously not possible using conventional mesh trawl gear.

“Eventually our designs will work into mainstream vessels and possible regulatory change to allow even further improvements,” he says.

wave

Catching the wave

Elsewhere, attention is turning to how the oceans can power the modern world. “Ocean energy could become the key to reducing CO2 emissions and our carbon footprint,” says Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

He believes that technology developed in the oil sector to deal with hostile deep water conditions can be applied to renewable energy. “Floating platforms are the answer,” he says.

oil and gas

One particularly promising example of this technology comes from European cleantech company Floating Power Plant (FPP). Its unique floating platform design combines wind power, of about 6 megawatts (MW) and wave power, of some 3 MW. It represents the first successful deployment of offshore hybrid technology to have provided power to the grid via cables buried under the sea floor.

FPP’s technology solves a longstanding problem for deepwater platforms. “When you moor it at one point, the platform turns to face the primary wave direction, which means the aft side of the platform is always stable,” says chief executive officer Anders Køhler. “This is great for operating and maintenance.”

Most important perhaps is that “the numbers stack up”, meaning FPP is competitive in euros per kilowatt hour of energy generated.

“For me, wave energy alone will never be competitive, but floating wave and wind will have a huge impact on the energy sector,” Køhler explains, adding that it can contribute “significantly” to the estimated 400GW offshore wind market by 2050.

While these initiatives alone will not heal the damage caused by humanity’s mistreatment of the ocean, the Blue Economy’ philosophy behind them might – creating jobs, new sectors and wealth, all while respecting the ocean environment so crucial to life on Earth.

Turning commitments into action.

Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, offers his perspective on how governance can drive the blue economy forward in Europe and beyond.

How do you plan to create a thriving Blue Economy?

We propose a series of actions – the Atlantic Action Plan – to revitalise the marine and maritime economy in the Atlantic Ocean. The plan will help drive the blue economy forward, while preserving the ocean’s environmental stability. Member States are encouraged to share information, costs, results, best practices and ideas for further areas of cooperation. This includes both traditional activities, such as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism or shipping, and emerging ones, such as offshore renewables or marine biotechnology.

ocean business

What innovations are you most enthusiastic about?

Advances in underwater robotics and smart sensors are making us even more aware of the variety of marine life in the depths of the ocean. The more we know, the more precautions we can take: video footage of the damage to cold water corals has pushed us to limit trawling in sensitive areas; images of plastic bags in ocean trenches are lending urgency to do something about plastics in the environment.

Equally exciting are advances in gene sequencing and biotechnology. If new pharmaceutical products from marine sponges can treat cancer, then there must be other marine resources that could benefit humankind in similar ways.

What can we expect in the very near term?

We’re about to adopt a Communication on International Ocean Governance. We’re already doing a lot, but it’s not enough – it’s not coordinated, not as ambitious as it could be, and until now we haven’t addressed the role of oceans enough in the context of climate change. This Communication will lay the foundations for a real oceans policy at the EU level – one that is ready for the challenges of the next decades. The global community is at the point when it must turn commitments into action.

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Mega

Mega seeks to energise and enrich the debate over how to create a better-functioning economy and society.

Megatrends are the powerful socio-economic, environmental and technological forces that shape our planet. The digitisation of the economy, the rapid expansion of cities and the depletion of the Earth’s natural resources are just some of the structural trends transforming the way countries are governed, companies are run and people live their lives.

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