UPCOMING EVENTS
Environmental Sustainability Forum (AltaSea and The Port of Los Angeles)
Solutions to Petroleum Dependence, Pollution and Climate Change on Land and at Sea
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Moderator:
- Terry Tamminen, AltaSea President and CEO and Former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency
Panelists:
- Dr. Gaurav Sant, UCLA Institute for Carbon Management
- Dr. Anupam Singh, USC Nuzhdin Seaweed Lab Scientist
- Brian Goldstein, Executive Director, Energy Independence Now
- Ann Carpenter, CEO and Co-Founder, Braid Theory
- Mike Galvin, Director of Waterfront and Commercial Real Estate, POLA
Attendance is free and open to the public. Click here to register.
Blue + Green Webinar Series (AltaSea)
The Blue + Green 2022 webinar series will include 4 one-hour webinars scheduled Thursdays from June 2, 2022 – June 23, 2022 at 4 pm. The goal of the project is to shine a spotlight on emerging aquaculture sector in our economy. Aquaculture and the supporting technologies bring together all the key ingredients – future growth opportunities that support our coastal ecosystems, the economy, jobs, and our communities. This webinar series reimagines partnerships between business, government, universities, and communities through regenerative ocean research, exploration, and equity-based economic development.
Click here for more information and to register.
ALTASEA COMMUNITY
The Power of Wave Energy (CSQ)
The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow, but there’s always motion in the ocean. And that is good news for California’s energy future.
At a time when both our planet and our politics demand that we look at new ways to power our world, AltaSea and Eco Wave Power are collaborating to bring wave energy to Los Angeles. Using a patented smart and cost-efficient technology for turning ocean and sea waves into green electricity, Eco Wave Power’s mission is to assist in the fight against climate change by enabling commercial power production from the ocean and sea waves.
WestCal Career Pathway Workshop (WestCal Academy®)
WestCal® Career Pathway Workshop presents maritime industry careers with the Inlandboatmen’s Union Maritime & Environmental Training Trust.
Saturday, May 21 from 1:00 PM – 3:00PM
WestCal® President Dr. John Paul Tabakian will introduce exciting careers in the emerging Blue Economy alongside IBU industry professional Eric Bland.
For more information and to register, click here.
¿Pavimento fresco y algas generadoras de energía? Esto se hace en Los Ángeles para combatir al cambio climáticos (Univision 34 Los Angeles)
Innovación, creatividad y tecnología de punta se combinan para ofrecer alternativas energéticas, de transporte y hasta de alimentos que minimizan la contaminación y ayudan a frenar el calentamiento global en la región.
AltaSea’s Walter Flores was featured in Univision’s Earth Day coverage, along with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. Both AltaSea and LACI are members of a finalist coalition for the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. These funds, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, would help accelerate blue and green job creation throughout Los Angeles.
MARINE SCIENCE
Divers remove ‘ghost fishing’ nets near sunken destroyer off San Pedro (Daily Breeze)
Volunteer divers spent time this week near a sunken pre-World War II destroyer, retrieving commercial fishing nets 150 feet under the sea off the coast of San Pedro as part of an international effort to clean the world’s oceans and protect marine life.
The team retrieved two lost nets that were stuck on the destroyer and would otherwise trap and kill sea animals — an effort for which the divers risked getting caught in the nets themselves.
Why algae can be our next secret weapon to combat plastic pollution (Techxplore)
Plastic pollution has become an alarming problem worldwide. A 2015 study published in Science Magazine projected that by 2025, around 100–250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter our oceans every year.
The problem also triggered the United Nations (UN) to issue a global resolution to end plastic waste, adopted by representatives from 173 countries.
However, even if all drastic measures were put in place to stop plastic production tomorrow, we would still have around 5 billion tons of plastic waste in landfills and the environment.
Comprehensive regional diagnostic of microbial ocean life using DNA testing (ScienceDaily)
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used tools of genetics research akin to those used in genealogical research to evaluate the diversity of marine life off the California coast.
The result is a breakthrough technique that researchers will be able to use to diagnose conditions at the base of the ocean food web that affect the abundance of commercially important fishes or create harmful algal blooms. From the information gathered by a method called “metabarcoding,” scientists can also use so-called environmental DNA (eDNA) to evaluate how effectively the oceans can protect the planet from the effects of climate change.
SUSTAINABLE AND INNOVATIVE BUSINESS
Hydrogen-Fueled and Wind-Powered Bulker Receives Design Approval (The Maritime Executive)
A Norwegian project emerging from a competition to develop the world’s first zero-emission bulk carrier is proceeding toward its goal of launching service in 2024 after having received design approval. Incorporating hydrogen for its fuel with wind power and batteries for energy storage, the vessel known as With Orca is being called a milestone in the journey towards a zero-emission future for the shipping industry.
CARB releases ambitious draft climate action plan to slash use of fossil fuels and reach carbon neutrality by 2045 (California Air Resources Board)
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today released a draft plan that, when final, will guide the state’s transition to a clean energy economy, drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 or sooner, and significantly clean the state’s air especially in disadvantaged communities disproportionately burdened by persistent pollution.
Salesforce Launches Initiative to Scale Ocean-Based Carbon Credits, Hires VP of Climate Action (ESG Today)
CRM solutions provider Salesforce announced the appointment of Tim Christophersen as incoming Vice President of Climate Action, responsible for driving the company’s strategy around nature-based solutions to climate challenges, and accelerating Salesforce’s international sustainability efforts.
Along with the new appointment, Salesforce also announced the launch of a new ‘blue carbon’ markets initiative, aimed at helping to scale sustainable ocean-based carbon markets through the development of consistent standards for assessing projects and credits.
To fight climate change, California approves seaweed that cuts methane emissions in cow burps (San Francisco Chronicle)
California dairy farms will soon be able to feed their cows seaweed to fight climate change after the state department of food and agriculture approved the use of a seaweed feed shown to reduce methane emissions from cow burps, the first in the U.S. to do so.
On Friday, Blue Ocean Barns, which produces the red seaweed at a farm on the Big Island of Hawaii, announced that the supplement had been approved for use on both conventional and dairy farms. Called Brominata, the red seaweed variety has been shown to cut methane emissions in dairy cows by 52% over 50 days but so far has only been used in trials.
EDUCATION
New Website Provides Close-Up Look at POLA Marine Habitats, Wildlife (Random Lengths News)
The Port of Los Angeles has unveiled an educational website showcasing the abundant marine life thriving above and below port waterways.
The LA Harbor Habitats website at laharborhabitats.org also details findings gleaned from Port-led biological surveys conducted over the last two decades.
Microplastics are in our bodies. How much do they harm us? (National Geographic)
As plastic waste proliferates around the world, an essential question remains unanswered: What harm, if any, does it cause to human health?
A few years ago, as microplastics began turning up in the guts of fish and shellfish, the concern was focused on the safety of seafood. Shellfish were a particular worry, because in their case, unlike fish, we eat the entire animal—stomach, microplastics and all. In 2017, Belgian scientists announced that seafood lovers could consume up to 11,000 plastic particles a year by eating mussels, a favorite dish in that country.
It’s Alive! Animals Evidently Reside in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GreenMatters)
If you aren’t familiar with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it’s one of the most notorious man-made ecological disasters on the planet. It’s exactly what it sounds like — a massive concentration of marine debris, located in the North Pacific Ocean — which has been growing for an unknown number of decades.
And recently, a study found that certain species have made it their home. Yes, there is reportedly life in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
