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“If we can unlock growth in the open ocean that we think is possible, it has the potential to be pretty big,” Odlin told MIT Technology Review last year.
But sources say early efforts to grow it far beyond the shores didn’t produce much algae.
In an email, Odlin added that Running Tide’s remote monitoring system shows baby sugar algae planted in the lines growing in the ocean, adding to the company’s knowledge that this has not been achieved before.
It allowed that “yield and consistency are not yet commensurate with what is required for large-scale carbon removal.” But he said the company doesn’t expect that yet, and that some of the early studies are mainly focused on testing the company’s technical systems and delivery methods.
He and Running Tide senior scientific advisor Justin Ries added that scientists already knew that algae would grow in the open ocean because there were varieties that did. They said the company will continue to test on small pilot scales until it can identify the most suitable species, locations and conditions.
“No one said it would be easy,” says Odlin, noting that they work on complex biological systems and various types of macroalgae. “Some will work really well; some are not; some will have huge differences… it’s part of system optimization that took years.”
“It may take 30, 40 deployments to start getting traction and get it right,” he says, adding that the company is still “a long way” from any “significant deployment”.
Departure
According to LinkedIn, staff who have left in recent months include Margaux Filippi, director of oceanography; Raj Saha, senior data scientist; Olivia Alcabes, data research scientist; Jean Bertrand Contina, leader of agronomy for macroalgae production; and Maxwell Calloway, senior algae biologist. They either didn’t answer questions or refused to comment on this piece.
According to the career network site, most of the researchers left the company after less than a year, and a few after just six months.
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