Provided are methods of producing 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from renewable sources such as seaweed, alginate, oligoalginate, pectin, oligopectin, polygalacturonate, galacturonate, and / or oligogalacturonate. The sugars in the renewable sources can be converted into one or more intermediates such as 4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronate (DEHU), 4-deoxy-L-threo-5-hexosulose uronate (DTHU), 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), 2,5-dihydroxymethyl furan (DHMF), and 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFA), which can be converted into FDCA by dehydration and cyclization to produce 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFA), followed by oxidation to produce FDCA. DEHU or DTHU may also be converted into FDCA by oxidation to produce 2,3-dihydroxy-5-oxohexanedioic acid (DOHA), which then undergoes dehydration and cyclization to produce FDCA.