#40 Marine Permaculture with Brian Von Herzen

Did you know that kelp forests are one of Earth’s most vibrant biomes and dynamic carbon sinks, drawing down more CO2 from the atmosphere by area than land-based rainforests do? Could this be one of THE solutions to keep us below 1,5 degrees celsius? Brian Von Herzen is the mastermind behind Marine Permaculture. Brian and his team at The Climate Foundation have developed a technology that uses marine solar and wave-driven pumps in the ocean to restore natural upwelling and primary production to grow seaweed ecosystems. In this episode you will hear Brian talk about the incredible potential of seaweeds, for example, fixing significant amounts of carbon and having multiple uses including food, feed, fuel, biostimulants, and fertilizer. He explains that once deployed at scale, Marine Permaculture can regenerate life in seas and soils and restore a healthy climate while building a multi-billion dollar seaweed export market over the next decade. Brian graduated magna cum laude in three years from Princeton University with a degree in Physics. He holds a Ph.D. in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology where he was awarded the prestigious Hertz Fellowship. After two decades of developing system solutions for companies such as Intel, Disney, Pixar, Microsoft, HP, and Dolby, Brian launched the Climate Foundation to investigate groundbreaking nature-based solutions to climate and other environmental challenges. https://www.climatefoundation.org/