On May 29th supporters and dignitaries joined AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles for the ribbon cutting of the Center for Innovation at Berth 58 – a monumental milestone for AltaSea. The Center for Innovation is part of AltaSea’s $35 million transformation of three 100+ year old historic warehouses at the Port of Los Angeles into modern spaces for cutting-edge research, education, workforce development, and innovation around ocean-based solutions to climate change.
The unique public-private ocean institute invites pioneers and organizations in science, business, and education to address today’s most challenging climate questions. From direct ocean capture, to kelp farming as an alternate food source, to educational programming, the innovation at the port is making waves in ocean exploration.
During VerdeXchange 2024, Terry Tamminen, President/CEO of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, discussed the opportunities of a blue economy while highlighting some of the cutting-edge research at AltaSea; POLA’s Michael Galvin spoke to the Port and AltaSea synergy- which include AltaSea developing a different workforce; EIN’s Brian Goldstein & Matthew Dickinson Sustainability Director of Fenix Marine Services addressed the need and opportunity re the transition to a cleaner economy to get buy-in from Port’s customers and employees via AltaSea’s experimentation with fuels like hydrogen.
“Here at AltaSea, we like to say the future is blue.”
Welcome to AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. With the help and support of the State of California, and some very generous donors, we raised the money to renovate these 180,000 square feet of historic warehouses originally built to take cargo from the Panama Canal. We have almost completed the renovation and will start moving in tenants shortly, with a grand opening date of May 29.
Talking about the blue economy, we’re considering education, workforce development, and developing businesses. We’re talking about regenerative aquaculture. As a society, we've been strip-mining the ocean of fish and other marine biology for generations. There are ways to mine in a regenerative and restorative fashion that gives back more than it takes. Including initiatives like growing giant kelp at the rate of two feet a day, kelp is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. You can then extract from the kelp and create food, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and industrial materials. That is the type of research we are pursuing here at AltaSea. Pacific6, which I call the John Deere of the ocean, is perfecting techniques for performing large-scale kelp farming.
Our second area of focus is renewable energy and carbon management. This includes projects related to tidal energy, investigating uses of hydrogen in the maritime economy, and ocean carbon dioxide removal. You are probably familiar with Direct Air Capture where there are efforts to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. This process is very energy-intensive and expensive. We have three universities experimenting with pulling that same carbon out of the ocean, which results in the ocean absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere. Spearheaded by UCLA, a byproduct of their solution is green hydrogen.
Our third area of focus is blue technology. This includes underwater robotics and mapping research aimed at understanding our planet more holistically.
So, if you like food, you’ve come to the right place. Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, and a partial future of nourishment will rely on sustainable sourcing. If you like clean air, we’re working on technologies to help decarbonize ports, shipping, and the movement of goods. We have a company here called Greener Port Solutions. They go alongside a vessel and put a cone on the smokestack to act as a scrubber to clean the air. If the inner workings of our planet interest you, you’ve once again come to the right place. Bob Ballard, who found the Titanic, builds drones and underwater robots here.
We also have K-12 field trips to educate young people about the ocean and its importance. Hopefully, some of those kids will participate in our workforce training programs partnered with 13 community colleges. A young person can come out of high school and take a 16-to-18-month certificate course in aquaculture at one of the community colleges. Our clean energy and hydrogen applications in the maritime industry course is tailored to prepare individuals for jobs in this sector. We’re also planning programs related to underwater robotics and other ways to enter this new economy.
I’ll close by welcoming you to the blue economy. Here at Altasea, we like to say the future is blue.
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