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Steps in quantitative storytelling as described in Cabello et al. (2021) and corresponding methods applied in this study.
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Seaweed is increasingly considered a promising resource to produce high‐value products such as bioplastics due to potential environmental benefits such as carbon uptake and no land‐use change. However, the environmental assessment of emerging technologies for producing bioplastic from seaweed remains challenging due to the difficulties in modeling...
Citations
... The potential new functionalities of bio-based chemicals and plastics compared to conventional fossil counterparts challenge the definition of system boundaries and generate multi-function units when co-producing fuels, chemicals, and electricity (Ayala et al., 2023b;Cucurachi et al., 2022). ...
The chemical sector is the fourth largest industry in the European Union (EU) and the second largest chemical producer globally. However, its global share in chemicals sales has declined from 25% two decades ago to around 14% now. The sector, which accounts for 22% of the EU industry's energy demands, faces significant challenges in mitigating climate change, reducing pollution and toxicity, and improving circularity. Biomass, a promising renewable feedstock, currently represents only 3% of the sector's feedstocks. This review explores the opportunities and challenges for a bio‐based chemical sector in the EU, particularly plastics, to improve circularity and contribute to climate neutrality, reduction of pollution and toxicity. It provides an overview of current fossil‐based feedstocks, production processes, country‐specific trends, bio‐based production, and sustainability initiatives. Exploring new feedstocks such as lignin, organic residues, and algae can increase biomass availability toward a circular bioeconomy. Integrating chemicals and plastics production into commercial pulp and power factories, biofuel plants, and the sustainable hydrogen economy could boost the sector. Hydrogen is crucial for reducing biomass's oxygen content. These can ultimately contribute to reduce climate change impacts. Designing novel chemicals and plastics to accommodate biomass's higher oxygen content, reduce toxicity, and enhance biodegradability is essential. However, plastic waste mismanagement cannot be solved by merely replacing fossil feedstocks with biomass. Sustainability initiatives can strengthen and develop a circular bio‐based chemical sector, but better management of bio‐based plastic waste and transparent labeling of bio‐based products are needed. This calls for collaborative efforts among citizens, academia, policymakers, and industry.
This article is categorized under: Climate and Environment > Circular Economy
Climate and Environment > Net Zero Planning and Decarbonization
Emerging Technologies > Materials
... In the medium term, nutraceuticals, alternative proteins, fabrics, and bioplastics show promise but could face delays over regulatory issues (World Bank, 2023). Bioplastics are an exciting area of research that has attracted significant attention in recent years (Ayala et al., 2023;Shravya et al., 2021;Sudhakar et al., 2021) and are often derived from polysaccharides (long chains of carbohydrate molecules, important for providing energy to cells), including hydrocolloids (Rajendran et al., 2012;Shravya et al., 2021). Nutraceuticals are bioactive compounds that have therapeutic effects linked to disease prevention in humans, thanks to their numerous lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides (Nadeeshani et al., 2022). ...
The global flows of cultivated seaweed were estimated for the year 2019 using a combination of literature review, assumptions, and simple conservation of mass calculations. Red seaweeds were found to be the largest contributors to the hydrocolloids industry, for both food and non‐food applications. Carrageenan‐containing species were found to be the largest contributors to both food (62%) and non‐food (55%) hydrocolloids and are the primary source for water gels, which make up 27% of non‐food hydrocolloids, followed by pet food (16%), toothpaste (6%), and others (6%). Carrageenan also accounts for almost all meat products, which make up 35% of the food hydrocolloid industry, and dairy products, which make up 26%. Agar‐containing seaweeds are used in confections (10% of food hydrocolloids), baking (9%), and other (2%) and make up 15% of non‐food hydrocolloids. Porphyra (nori) is cultivated for direct consumption and makes up 23% of direct food consumption. Cultivated brown seaweeds were found to comprise Laminaria/Saccharina for alginate production (30%), Laminaria/Saccharina for direct consumption (44%), and Undaria for direct consumption (16%). About half of the alginates produced make up 18% of food hydrocolloids, and the other half is used in non‐food hydrocolloids comprising technical grades (28% of non‐food) and animal feed (3%). The results are discussed in the context of emerging markets for seaweed and the potential for seaweeds as a substitute for staple foods, and the environmental impact of seaweed farming is explored through a review of life cycle assessment studies.
... The present paper aims to explore US consumer commitment Sustainability 2024, 16, 2107 2 of 13 to sea-vegetable-based products such as sushi rolls, salads, crackers/cookies, jelly/candy, tea, smoothies/shakes, and nutritional supplements. With this specific focus, the present study extends the existing body of literature [20][21][22][23][24], as commitment is not yet widely explored. Some elements of commitment are considered higher-order consumer behaviors, such as paying a premium price and sharing via word of mouth, and have yet to be more widely explored. ...
... The present paper aims to explore US consumer commitm to sea-vegetable-based products such as sushi rolls, salads, crackers/cookies, jelly/can tea, smoothies/shakes, and nutritional supplements. With this specific focus, the pres study extends the existing body of literature [20][21][22][23][24], as commitment is not yet wid explored. Some elements of commitment are considered higher-order consumer beh iors, such as paying a premium price and sharing via word of mouth, and have yet to more widely explored. ...
The trend toward sustainable and healthy food consumption has stimulated widespread debate. US consumers demand healthy and sustainable food options and are increasingly interested in alternative proteins such as macro-algae, also known as sea-vegetables. The present study is built on the responses of an online survey aiming to explore US consumers’ commitment towards varying sea-vegetable-based products. Affordability, sustainability, taste, environmental friendliness, and health benefits, as well as product novelty and versatility, were the factors under investigation. All factors were found to be equally strong predictors for sea-vegetable product commitment. Best-practice recommendations for US food marketers and agricultural producers are also provided.
... In addition to the films, composite microfibers and fiber-enforced bioplastics were developed as examples of high-value materials from refined and modified seaweed biopolymers, and a readily scalable seaweed-containing material, respectively. The study also summarizes results from the qualitative study of Ayala et al. (2023a) to provide additional information regarding the challenges in ensuring a seaweed supply. ...
... However, in the case of brown seaweed, statistical data are scarce and other factors, such as optimal growth conditions, regulatory constraints, and technological development in cultivation designs, also need to be considered. Thus, a mixed-methods approach was chosen as documented in Ayala et al. (2023a), and the "quantitative storytelling" method, which included interviews and surveys with experts in seaweed cultivation and production was used to derive a set of suppliers likely to provide seaweed in the future. ...
... The selection of experts was based on their extensive knowledge of seaweed cultivation, industry experience, and academic background. Additional details on the survey methodology used are provided in Ayala et al. (2023a). ...
... Applied phycological research is often reliant on accurate measurements of algal biomass productivity to ascertain necessary amounts of wet weight, dry mass, or phycoproducts (Buschmann et al. 2017;Muhammad et al. 2020;Cai et al. 2021;Rehman et al. 2022). Following closely on this data, the algae industry depends on comparing methods and results and then deciding which one is appropriate for a particular production requirement (Rehman et al. 2022;Ayala et al. 2023). However, as shown by Yong et al. (2013), the different formulae available to measure algal growth can lead to very different results upon analyzing the same growth data (Glenn and Doty 1992;Schmidt et al. 2010;Luhan and Sollesta 2010;Hayashi et al. 2011). ...
Stress and growth rates in microalgae and seaweeds are often evaluated by different methods, making the resulting data often incomparable. This poses significant challenges for basic and applied phycological research and algae industry development. To address this issue, we provide a protocol with quantitative definitions and mathematical formulae for assessing algal stress on biomass productivity in organisms and populations. Our purpose with this protocol is to offer a mathematical model to quantify and compare stressors and strains across algal taxa, going beyond qualitative and species-specific approaches. We have applied our protocol to analyze data from studies on Ulva lactuca L. growth under thermal stress and nutrient limitation to demonstrate our protocol's utility and easiness of use. We also present a new and unified perspective for algal stress ecophysiology.
... This method also added an advantage of recyclable nature of produced plastics (Ashter, 2016b). Polymers such as agar, carrageenan and alginate obtained from red and brown seaweeds (Ayala et al., 2023) were directly used for bioplastic film production through simple boiling or autoclaving/thermal method or even whole seaweed can be thermally heated and ground using mixer grinder to make semi-solid paste and along with specific plasticizers through casting process bioplastic film can be developed (Ili Balqis et al., 2017;Sudhakar et al., 2020;Tavassoli-Kafrani et al., 2016). In this process, zero waste generation is observed, and it is completely eco-friendly (Fig. 1). ...
... costs around Rs. 30-40. Since the cost is increased to 2-3 fold after the year 2019, still there is a possibility of using seaweed for bioplastic production (Ayala et al., 2023). ...
Plastic disposal and their degraded products in the environment are global concern due to its adverse effects and persistence in nature. To overcome plastic pollution and its impacts on environment, a sustainable bioplastic production using renewable feedstock's, such as algae, are envisioned. In this review, the production of polymer precursors such as polylactic acid, polyhydroxybutyrates, polyhydroxyalkanoates, agar, carrageenan and algi-nate from microalgae and macroalgae through direct conversion and fermentation routes are summarized and discussed. The direct conversion of algal biopolymers without any bioprocess (whole algal biomass used emphasizing zero waste discharge concept) favours economic feasibility. Whereas indirect method uses conversion of algal polymers to monomers after pretreatment followed by bioplastic precursor production by fermentation are emphasized. This review paper also outlines the current state of technological developments in the field of algae-based bioplastic, both in industry and in research, and highlights the creation of novel solutions for green bioplastic production employing algal polymers. Finally, the cost economics of the bioplastic production using algal biopolymers are clearly mentioned with future directions of next level bioplastic production. In this review study, the cost estimation was given at laboratory level bioplastic production using casting methods. Further development of bioplastics at pilot scale level may give clear economic feasibility of production at industry. Here, in this review, we emphasized the overview of algal biopolymers for different bioplastic product development and its economic value and also current industries involved in bioplastic production.
