Algae vs. oil spills and climate change: an opportunity for middle Eastern seas
Oil spills, marine pollution, and climate change have become global challenges, particularly acute in oil-producing regions. The Persian Gulf and coastal waters of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE are areas with heavy concentrations of petroleum infrastructure, where any incident could trigger an environmental disaster. Nature itself may hold the solution: marine algae can cleanse water of petroleum products and absorb carbon dioxide on a massive scale. This has been demonstrated by scientists in various parts of the world’s oceans.
Seas under threat
The Persian Gulf serves as the heart of the global oil economy. Dozens of oil platforms, terminals, and ports are concentrated here, and the intensity of oil extraction and fuel exports makes the region’s ecosystem particularly vulnerable. Oil spills, wastewater discharges from drilling platforms, rising water temperatures, and marine ecosystem degradation have become systemic problems. Each new incident—from accidental oil spills to tanker disasters—threatens not only the environment but also the economies of nations whose prosperity depends directly on stable oil and gas exports.
The situation is compounded by the region’s expanding petroleum infrastructure: new platforms, terminals, and extraction zones create constant pressure on marine flora and fauna. Scientists note that without timely prevention measures and biological protection, the Persian Gulf’s ecosystems will struggle to survive.
The experiment: 82% cleanup in one month
This spring, the KELP FARMS team, an international project registered in Georgia, with support from international company Greenway Global (https://greenwayglobal.com/), conducted a laboratory experiment using brown algae Cystoseira. Under conditions where heavy fuel oil M100 concentrations exceeded normal levels by tens of times, petroleum product content in seawater decreased by 82% in just 31 days.
“We were surprised by the results ourselves,” says Oksana Vyalova, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southern Seas Biology and PhD in Biological Sciences. “The algae not only precipitated oil pollution but also created an environment for bacteria that actively broke it down.”
The combination of algae and microorganisms forms a complete ecological complex capable of restoring the marine environment even after large-scale oil spills. The experimental results indicate that biosanitary algae farms could serve as an effective biological barrier in areas of chronic or emergency contamination. Such farms are particularly relevant for ports, oil platforms, and coastal terminals where the risk of petroleum spills is high.
How marine eco-farms work
Marine eco-farm technology is based on industrial-scale algae cultivation:
- Seedling nets are anchored to ropes, with seedlings reaching operational size within 8 months.
- Farm installation is possible along coastlines or near petroleum infrastructure using anchor systems.
- Efficiency: Within a month, algae absorb pollutants at levels tens of times their own weight.
The key to such systems is prevention. During an emergency oil spill, the farm immediately absorbs contaminants and processes them over several weeks. The algae are then replaced with fresh seedlings, maintaining high cleanup efficiency year-round.
Marine biologists on the KELP FARMS team are prepared to develop projects for any region of the world’s oceans, selecting appropriate algae species and farm designs for specific conditions.
“Marine forests” and climate
The potential of algae extends far beyond local seawater cleanup. They could play a decisive role in combating global climate change.
“A hectare of marine forests absorbs up to 360 tons of CO₂ per year, while a hectare of terrestrial forest absorbs about 5 tons,” explains KELP FARMS founder Olga Lakustova. “This carbon can be sequestered, for example, in construction materials, or the algae can be processed into eco-friendly biofuel. We’re also working on creating biodegradable packaging from algae.”
Thus, marine eco-farms not only protect waters from oil but also become an effective decarbonization tool. For Middle Eastern countries, where sustainable development and carbon footprint reduction are becoming priorities, this opens new economic and environmental opportunities.
Economic benefits for oil-producing regions
Creating marine phytofarms is also financially advantageous:
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Global demand is growing, and starting in 2025, airlines must use a minimum of 2% SAF as aircraft fuel. This creates a market worth millions of tons annually.
- Carbon credits: By recording CO₂ absorption by marine farms, countries and companies can sell carbon units on international exchange markets. This represents a new revenue stream actively pursued by global corporations.
- Agriculture: Algae processing by-products are converted into biochar—a fertilizer that increases agricultural land productivity.
- ESG metrics: Implementing environmental technologies enhances companies’ investment attractiveness, reduces tax and environmental risks, improves reputation, and creates better conditions for international cooperation.
Climate marine projects deliver an IRR of 5.4% to 17%, providing stable returns over extended periods, making them attractive to conservative investors. Even under conservative models, projects can pay for themselves within 1.5–3 years, depending on carbon credit price volatility. Parallel sales of SAF or algae feedstock for its production can increase company profitability by 1.5–2 times. For Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other regional countries investing in the “green economy” while seeking to maintain leadership in energy markets, such projects are becoming strategically vital.
Prospects for the Persian Gulf
Algae are more than just elements of marine ecosystems. They clean water of petroleum products, absorb carbon dioxide, help restore marine biodiversity and bioproductivity, and create new economic opportunities.
KELP FARMS is already implementing pilot projects in the Black Sea and Sea of Japan, and the technology is ready for scaling in the Persian Gulf. This region, which accounts for over 30% of global oil production, could gain an effective tool for protecting ecosystems from chronic spills while simultaneously creating a new revenue source. Marine eco-farms in the Middle East are becoming a symbol of the transition to sustainable development: from oil to “green” technologies.
Source: www.ecomena.org