Wando seaweed that's attracting attention from all over the world...Collaborate with NASA to certify 'Blue Carbon'

[Anchor]
Three years ago, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released satellite images of Wando's marine farms and introduced eco-friendly farming and the carbon reduction role of seaweed.

Wando-gun visited NASA and U.S. government agencies for the first time among local governments to promote the excellence of domestic seaweed and discuss ways to respond to climate change.

I'm reporter Oh Sun-yeol.

[Reporter]
This is a satellite image of a Wando marine farm released by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in April 2021.

It emphasized the excellence of eco-friendly seaweed farming and announced that it would remove carbon from the atmosphere.

The U.S. Department of Energy also visited the Wando Sea in January to learn the farming techniques of seaweed with high carbon absorption rates.

This time, Wando-gun visited NASA to announce the excellence of seaweed, which is drawing attention as a health food.

[Shin Woo-cheol / Wando County, South Jeolla Province] Wando is made up of 265 islands and has a rias coast, so it's very suitable for farming, and we expect Wando's seaweed to be widely promoted, so we need to do our best to export it.]

In particular, we discussed the new certification of "blue carbon" by noting the ability of seaweed to heal the Earth as a carbon sink.

[Laura Lorenzoni / Director of Marine Biology, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Seaweed is one of the most important 'blue carbon' ecosystems along with mangrove forests and wetlands. We will continue to explore everything about exciting seaweeds....]

Wando County, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, is also promoting technology research to cultivate seaweed on a large scale in the distant sea.

For five years from next year, we will conduct a study to absorb carbon by cultivating seaweed in Wando, Yeongdeok's foreign seas, and waters above 30m.

[Evelyn N. Wang / Head of the U.S. Energy High Program: It was impressive to see the process of farmed seaweed being processed into food on a professional level. We are looking forward to collaborating with Wando.

Wando Seaweed, which has emerged as a future food and overcoming the climate crisis, is attempting to leap forward in the competitiveness of the international stage industry through the promotion of "Blue Carbon" certification.

This is YTN Osunyeol.