ANBARASUASOKAN

If you live near the Mediterranean Sea, you might be familiar with little balls of seaweed that regularly wash up on the beach. These come from the Posidonia oceanica  plant (better known as Neptune grass), and are generally thought of as a nuisance. Now, however, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology is involved in a project that’s converting the little balls into high-quality building insulation. Besides being plentiful, renewable and not wanted for anything else, the dead seaweed is reportedly mold-resistant, almost completely non-flammable, won’t rot, and doesn’t require the addition of any other compounds – good news for people who are chemically-sensitive. It can also absorb water vapor and release it again, without compromising its own insulation value. Converting the “Neptune balls” into a more easily-applicable form of insulation proved to be challenging, however. In its rolled-up form, the seaweed harbors a lot of sand, and its fibers tend to catch on