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Algae Protein…New Source to Feed Animals

Workers clear algae along the coast in Qingdao, Shandong province, China June 12, 2021. Picture taken June 12, 2021. China Daily via REUTERS
Workers clear algae along the coast in Qingdao, Shandong province, China June 12, 2021. Picture taken June 12, 2021. China Daily via REUTERS
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Algae Protein…New Source to Feed Animals

Workers clear algae along the coast in Qingdao, Shandong province, China June 12, 2021. Picture taken June 12, 2021. China Daily via REUTERS
Workers clear algae along the coast in Qingdao, Shandong province, China June 12, 2021. Picture taken June 12, 2021. China Daily via REUTERS

Animal feed is vital for the global food security, but it deeply affects the environment given the amount of greenhouse emissions emitted during its production and processing. Yet, new innovations and techniques could help provide sustainable and clean solutions in this field.

New feed source

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has collaborated with the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA) to produce a new source of animal feed in the KSA.

The new project, which aligns with Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative's focus on food security, aims at developing new techniques to produce the highest quality of algae protein used as feed for animals such as fish and poultry. The project supports producing local raw material for animal feed and reduces the reliance on imported raw materials. This could help establish a sustainable animal feed industry in Saudi Arabia.

“The microalgae project aligns with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative, and will bring environmental, social, and economic benefits not only for Saudi Arabia, but for the whole world,” said Dr. Ali Al Shaiki, CEO of National Fisheries Development Program.

The project, known as Development of Algal Biotechnology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- (DABKSA), is overseen by MEWA’s National Fisheries Development Program (NFDP) located on the KAUST campus. The project director in Dr. Claudio Grünewal, joined KAUST in October 2021 from Swansea University in Wales, bringing extensive experience in marine microalgal production, with the engineering expertise needed to design, build and operate high-scale aquaculture installations. Grünewald has delivered several microalgae industrial size projects in different countries such as Spain, Chile, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Pilot program

Phase one consisted of constructing an 870 m2 -experimental facility aimed at studying the feasibility of the high-protein algae. Opened on March 22, the facility provides documented data on the productivity of algae during the first year. The data will be used to assess the feasibility, economic benefits, and sustainability of the project.

Algae grows in both seawater and fresh water, driven by sunlight’s reaction with nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon dioxide. In the DABKSA project, algae rich in protein, oils and carbohydrates are planted in systems of outdoor ponds (raceways) and closed tubes (photobioreactors). The concentrated paste is made using a liquid culture (usually conducted in testing tubes), and then it’s freeze dried to make the powdered biomass that will be included in feed for animals.

The project has several environmental benefits, and the limited sources such as soil, water, and energy are being used in growing animals and their feed. It’s also expected to help reduce greenhouse emissions usually produced by the conventional animal feeds.

Algae-based techniques can also contribute to reducing environmental impacts. Among the proposed solutions is feeding the fish the algae-based food, and then reuse the water from the tanks used to grow the fish to grow more algae, which could lead to a circular economy. Algae can grow along the Saudi coasts (3,400 kilometers), the Red Sea, and the Gulf.

Production phase

Once feasibility is demonstrated in Phase I, the Algal Biotechnology project will proceed to Phase II, which involves designing and building a larger aquaculture and algae plant. The target tonnage of dry weight biomass is expected to reach approximately 1.5 – 2 tons in the first year, and a larger yield in Phase II (late 2023-24) — between 50 and 100 tons, when the plant expands to a four-hectare facility. A future goal of DABKSA is to apply multi-trophic aquaculture approaches to the Red Sea Project and NEOM, among other in-Kingdom projects.

KAUST is a center for wide-scale research on algae in the Kingdom. In the past two years, the university has preserved the main talents and equipment to accelerate – not only the animal feed project related to the food security initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030 – but also the use of algae in the production of tires, perfumes, and pharmaceutical drugs.

The university is also the only laboratory experimenting with algae-based applied biotechnology in the Arabian Peninsula, working on identifying local algae strains, their different behaviors and tolerance of external environmental factors. KAUST has also built a library featuring the local strains of algae of commercial value to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Among the project’s team members is Dr. Kyle Lauersen, KAUST assistant professor and algae expert, who helps professor Grünewald developing strategies to train future generations of algae experts and help them apply new techniques across the Kingdom.

"I truly believe that the Kingdom has a competitive advantage to run industrial algal cultivation along the Red Sea coast with its flat land, CO2 sources, and year-round solar irradiation," Grünewald said.

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17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
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17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

A 17th century Swedish Navy shipwreck buried underwater in central Stockholm for 400 years has suddenly become visible due to unusually low Baltic Sea levels.

The wooden planks of the ship's well-preserved hull have since early February been peeking out above the surface of the water off the island of Kastellholmen, providing a clear picture of its skeleton.

"We have a shipwreck here, which was sunk on purpose by the Swedish Navy," Jim Hansson, a marine archeologist at Stockholm's Vrak - Museum of Wrecks, told AFP.

Hansson said experts believe that after serving in the navy, the ship was sunk around 1640 to use as a foundation for a new bridge to the island of Kastellholmen.

Archeologists have yet to identify the exact ship, as it is one of five similar wrecks lined up in the same area to form the bridge, all dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

"This is a solution, instead of using new wood you can use the hull itself, which is oak" to build the bridge, Hansson said.

"We don't have shipworm here in the Baltic that eats the wood, so it lasts, as you see, for 400 years," he said, standing in front of the wreck.

Parts of the ship had already broken the surface in 2013, but never before has it been as visible as it is now, as the waters of the Baltic Sea reach their lowest level in about 100 years, according to the archaeologist.

"There has been a really long period of high pressure here around our area in the Nordics. So the water from the Baltic has been pushed out to the North Sea and the Atlantic," Hansson explained.

A research program dubbed "the Lost Navy" is underway to identify and precisely date the large number of Swedish naval shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic.

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China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
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China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)

Fifteen years ago, Beijing's Liangma riverbanks would have been smog-choked and deserted in winter, but these days they are dotted with families and exercising pensioners most mornings.

The turnaround is the result of a years-long campaign that threw China's state power behind policies like moving factories and electrifying vehicles, to improve some of the world's worst air quality.

Pollution levels in many Chinese cities still top the World Health Organization's (WHO) limits, but they have fallen dramatically since the "airpocalypse" days of the past.

"It used to be really bad," said Zhao, 83, soaking up the sun by the river with friends.

"Back then when there was smog, I wouldn't come out," she told AFP, declining to give her full name.

These days though, the air is "very fresh".

Since 2013, levels of PM2.5 -- small particulate that can enter the lungs and bloodstream -- have fallen 69.8 percent, Beijing municipality said in January.

Particulate pollution fell 41 percent nationwide in the decade from 2014, and average life expectancy has increased 1.8 years, according to the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).

China's rapid development and heavy coal use saw air quality decline dramatically by the 2000s, especially when cold winter weather trapped pollutants close to the ground.

There were early attempts to tackle the issue, including installing desulphurization technology at coal power plants, while factory shutdowns and traffic control improved the air quality for events like the 2008 Olympics.

But the impact was short-lived, and the problem worsened.

- Action plan -

Public awareness grew, heightened by factors like the US embassy in Beijing making monitoring data public.

By 2013, several international schools had installed giant inflatable domes around sport facilities to protect students.

That year, multiple episodes of prolonged haze shrouded Chinese cities, with one in October bringing northeastern Harbin to a standstill for days as PM2.5 levels hit 40 times the WHO's then-recommended standard.

The phrase "I'm holding your hand, but I can't see your face" took off online.

Later that year, an eight-year-old became the country's youngest lung cancer patient, with doctors directly blaming pollution.

As concerns mounted, China's ruling Communist Party released a ten-point action plan, declaring "a war against pollution".

It led to expanded monitoring, improved factory technology and the closure or relocation of coal plants and mines.

In big cities, vehicles were restricted and the groundwork was laid for widespread electrification.

For the first time, "quantitative air quality improvement goals for key regions within a clear time limit" were set, a 2016 study noted.

These targets were "the most important measure", said Bluetech Clean Air Alliance director Tonny Xie, whose non-profit worked with the government on the plan.

"At that time, there were a lot of debates about whether we can achieve it, because (they were) very ambitious," he told AFP.

The policy targeted several key regions, where PM2.5 levels fell rapidly between 2013 and 2017, and the approach was expanded nationwide afterwards.

"Everybody, I think, would agree that this is a miracle that was achieved in China," Xie said.

China's success is "entirely" responsible for a decline in global pollution since 2014, AQLI said last summer.

- 'Low-hanging fruits' gone -

Still, in much of China the air remains dangerous to breathe by WHO standards.

This winter, Chinese cities, including financial hub Shanghai, were regularly among the world's twenty most polluted on monitoring site IQAir.

Linda Li, a running coach who has lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, said air quality has improved, but she still loses up to seven running days to pollution in a good month.

A top environment official last year said China aimed to "basically eliminate severe air pollution by 2025", but the government did not respond when AFP asked if that goal had been met.

Official 2025 data found nationwide average PM2.5 concentrations decreased 4.4 percent on-year.

Eighty-eight percent of days featured "good" air quality.

However, China's current definition of "good" is PM2.5 levels of under 35 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than the WHO's recommended five micrograms.

China wants to tighten the standard to 25 by 2035.

The last five years have also seen pollution reduction slow.

The "low-hanging fruits" are gone, said Chengcheng Qiu from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Qiu's research suggests pollution is shifting west as heavy industry relocates to regions like Xinjiang, and that some cities in China have seen double-digit percentage increases in PM2.5 in the last five years.

"They can't just stop all industrial production. They need to find cleaner ways to produce the output," Qiu said.

There is hope for that, given China's status as a renewable energy powerhouse, with coal generation falling in 2025.

"Cleaner air ultimately rests on one clear direction," said Qiu.

"Move beyond fossil fuels and let clean energy power the next stage of development."

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Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
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Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)

A Sydney man who tried to post native lizards, dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and biscuit tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said Tuesday.

The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said.

A district court in Sydney gave the man, 61-year-old Neil Simpson, a non-parole period of five years and four months.

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from seized parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania, the officials said in a statement.

The animals -- including shingleback lizards, western blue-tongue lizards, bearded dragons and southern pygmy spiny-tailed skinks -- were posted in 15 packages between 2018 and 2023.

"Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women's handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes," the statement said.

The smuggler had attempted to get others to post the animals on his behalf but was identified by government investigators and the New South Wales police, it added.

Three other people were convicted for taking part in the crime.

The New South Wales government's environment department said that "the illegal wildlife trade is not a victimless crime", harming conservation and stripping the state "and Australia of its unique biodiversity".