China-Led Standard for Measuring Farmed Algae Carbon Sequestration Released

What changed

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced on October 8 that an international standard for measuring carbon sequestration by farmed large algae has been formally released. China developed it with Norway, Italy, India, South Korea and Iceland.

The standard covers terminology, sampling, pretreatment, moisture testing, organic-carbon measurement and sequestration calculations for algae such as kelp and nori. Its aim is to make those measurements quantifiable, verifiable and internationally comparable.

Why it matters

Algae can absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, but that climate value is difficult to compare when producers measure it differently. A shared method gives governments, researchers and farmed-algae producers the same measuring tape.

That matters because carbon accounting can determine whether an environmental claim is credible, comparable or useful in climate policy. The standard creates technical infrastructure for that accounting, but it does not by itself establish mandatory adoption, certification costs or immediate commercial uptake.

The reporting cites a projection from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that algae could cumulatively absorb about 135 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 if current growth rates continue. The standard does not produce that outcome; it provides a common way to measure whether claimed sequestration has occurred.