[GWSG] Helpful kelp farms; supportive seaweed; renewables top gas in EU; UK environmental risk report

[Tilley, Al]

1. Capturing carbon through aquaculture has usually meant farming kelp and towing it to deep water, where it sinks and sequesters its embodied carbon for centuries to thousands of years while it decomposes. New research shows that current seaweed farms close to shore both sequester significant amounts of carbon and work to increase the alkalinity of ambient water. If further study confirms the finding it can lead to large projects. https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/weve-overlooked-a-key-benefit-of-seaweed-farms-on-ocean-chemistry-for-the-first-time-scientists-quantify/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weve-overlooked-a-key-benefit-of-seaweed-farms-on-ocean-chemistry-for-the-first-time-scientists-quantify
2. A U of South Florida study found that seaweed increased has 13% a year over the 20 years studied. https://cleantechnica.com/2026/01/21/seaweed-blooms-suggest-the-ocean-is-geoengineering-itself/#google_vignette
Now we know that both deep water and near shore seaweed sequester carbon. We can encourage both with no more than a system of racks and a program of practices. Those of us who live near beaches can just put up with the smelly mats which would result.
3.  For the first time, Europe now produces more of its power renewably than from fossil fuels. Solar is booming but gas is also growing; they hope to displace more gas to control their costs (and emissions). https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-and-solar-generate-more-electricity-in-europe-than-fossil-fuels-for-first-time-in-2025/
4. Our government no longer publishes or supports studies which lead to reports on environmental risk and damage. England’s report last October was almost suppressed until a FOI request loosened a truncated version. A US report would of course have to include the campaign against the energy transition and the neutering of the EPA, among a throng of devilish initiatives besetting science in general, but the possibly truncated English version gives us a glimpse of the landscape. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/27/uk-government-report-ecosystem-collapse-foi-national-security

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