Catalina Connection Going Up— A “Kelp Elevator” on Catalina Island Could Produce Clean Energy

By: LOG STAFF

CATALINA ISLAND — The United States needs billions of tons of biomass annually for biofuel. Biomass, in the context of energy production, is matter from recently living organisms that are used for bioenergy production, and biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short period from biomass rather than by the prolonged natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil.

While corn, soybeans, and other crops are the most common source, a new theory has entered the chat and is being tested off Catalina Island.

Diane Y Kim, the associated director of special projects at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, believes a breakthrough has been made. In 2019, Marine Biology, Inc. and USC researchers began testing the idea of harvesting kelp in the open ocean as a new biofuel source.

Kelp is one of the fastest-growing