February 2025 Edition
A monthly round-up of news and trends important to the AltaSea community.
AltaSea Community Spotlight
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Dynamic Education’s first series of classes at AltaSea will bring students from the Boys and Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor, Port of Los Angeles High School (POLAHS), and Watts-based Jordan Downs Center. Upon completion of the semester-long program, students receive high-value, industry-based credentials from the American Welding Society (AWS) and the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER). In the past four years, 72 POLAHS students earned certifications from AWS and NCCER.
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Located in Kona, Hawaii, and developed in partnership with multinational energy company Equinor, the facility marks a major milestone in the commercialization of Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology – a process that leverages the ocean to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere.
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The widespread impact of California’s environmental policies and the success of Los Angeles’ grassroots organizations prove that some of the most powerful, consistent climate action happens at the state and city level—proving that the future of U.S. climate action is local.
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January’s devastating wildfires continue to impact Angelenos lives, homes, and businesses. With two atmospheric river storm systems expected to further worsen conditions, the effects of these two back-to-back events will have a significant impact on the coastal ecosystems in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades. In response, Kelp Ark has launched an urgent initiative to preserve the genetic diversity of threatened kelp forests.
Collaborating with partners from Heal the Bay, and the University of Southern California (USC), scientists are working to collect and safeguard kelp species affected by the coastal pollution caused by runoff in the fire ravaged areas of Santa Monica Bay.
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New lab and office space in Kearny, New Jersey, for scaling of key superconducting magnet activities and continued team growth.
The 15,000-square-foot space was designed and built specifically for the Company’s work, including multiple labs for high-field magnet manufacturing and operation, as well as office space to support a team of over 50 employees. The facility is located within Hugo Neu Corporation’s Kearny Point campus.
AltaSea and Hugo Neu have a bi-coastal High-School Research Mentorship program that takes place on both AltaSea’s campus and on Hugo Neu’s Kearny Point campus in New Jersey.
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In partnership with Catalina Express and Harbor Breeze Cruises, the Port of Los Angeles will soon begin emission-reduction technology demonstration projects for specialized harbor craft, thanks to a $31 million grant awarded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
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Terry Tamminen, President and CEO of AltaSea, joins A Climate Change Podcast to discuss the urgent need to improve ocean health. They explore innovative blue technologies, including regenerative aquaculture, wave energy, and CO2 removal technologies. Terry emphasizes the importance of collective action and shares insights on AltaSea’s role in developing sustainable ocean-based solutions.
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Marine Science
The seaweed sector is hugely diverse, yet many newcomers are unaware of its complexities. As a result we propose a useful framework for dividing it up into four key groupings, while also helping people to understand the key issues facing each of these groups.
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As the fires rage on, Los Angeles and its surrounding areas are already grappling with the aftermath of another devastating wildfire season. The pressing questions are being asked: how to help those who have lost everything, how to rebuild, and, unfortunately, who to blame? A familiar but misguided narrative has emerged that poor management by local leaders is to blame.
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2024 was the hottest year on record. Average global temperatures rose to 1.6C above preindustrial levels, according to data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) – a rise that led to extreme weather events and “misery to millions of people”, as one of the group’s experts told the Guardian.
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Sustainable and Innovative Business
Economically, the ocean is significant, with an estimated annual gross marine product of $2.5 trillion, equivalent to the eighth largest economy globally. Its resources support the livelihoods of over three billion people1 and provide the primary daily source of protein for nearly one billion people.
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While the focus on innovation is vital for every industry, equally important is ensuring that the workforce of tomorrow is prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The maritime industry is experiencing a “silver tsunami,” with a significant portion of its workforce aging out in the coming years.
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Who are the leading companies in cleantech today? Meet the list of innovators with the technologies and determination to take us from commitments to actions in the sprint to net-zero, and discover the market trends that give us hope of a sustainable future.
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Sammy is joined by Kelly Sanders, an engineering professor at USC and former White House advisor on energy policy. They talk about what the fires mean for the future of Los Angeles, and how the city might adapt as the planet heats up and the climate crisis worsens.
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Education
Professor Chris Merchant, lead author at the University of Reading and National Centre for Earth Observation, said: “If the oceans were a bathtub of water, then in the 1980s, the hot tap was running slowly, warming up the water by just a fraction of a degree each decade. But now the hot tap is running much faster, and the warming has picked up speed. The way to slow down that warming is to start closing off the hot tap, by cutting global carbon emissions and moving towards net-zero.”
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UC Santa Barbara marine scientists joined local commercial fishers, policy experts and entrepreneurs at the Blue Economy Innovation Summit to discuss the burgeoning local blue economy and how to foster responsible growth.
The summit was held on Jan. 23 at the Community Environmental Council’s Environmental Hub in downtown Santa Barbara.