Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago

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The minerals we need to fight climate change could be found in an unexpected place: seaweed.

This story is part of the Grist series Unearthed: The Mining Issue, which examines the global race to extract critical minerals for the clean energy transition. For more stories from this series, visit:
grist.org/series/unearthed-mining-issue

Video by Jesse Nichols
Senior Editor: John Thomason
Executive Editor: Teresa Chin
Video Support: David Albright and Clayton Aldern

For an adapted transcript, visit:
grist.org/video/in-the-race-to-find-critical-minerals-theres-a-gold-mine-literally-at-our-shoreline

Sources:
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
mbari.org/know-your-ocean/periodic-table-of-elements-in-the-ocean

Pacific Northwest National Lab
pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-35837.pdf

Haji, et al 2019
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032119300838

Diallo, et al 2015
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5b00463

USGS 2024
pubs.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2024