Seagrass is apparently 35 times more effective at absorbing CO2 than even rainforests
By Thomas Ansell
Makers of strangely floral beers, Lowlander, have come over all green with a new beer called ‘Cool Earth Lager’ that comes with a reasonable climate commitment: for every can sold the company will plant seagrass in the Wadden Sea.
The Wadden Sea was previously home to an enormous amount of seagrass, which whilst not the prettiest of plants, does have an exceptional ability to absorb CO2. According to Lowlander, one seagrass plant can absorb and store about 10 kilos of CO2 from the air.
Unfortunately, the diking of the Wadden Sea in the 1930’s caused about 150 square kilometres of Wadden seagrass to disappear; although this process was sped up hugely by massive amounts of industrial fertiliser being used in Dutch agriculture (hello nitrogen crisis!).
In an amusing turn, Lowlander is also applying for a climate subsidy for its beer: the thinking being that if cavity wall insulation, and solar panels receive subsidies, why not their new beer? The answer is probably because insulation and solar panels allow us to consume less energy, whilst the beer does not.
