The Plan to Turn the Caribbean’s Glut of Sargassum Into Biofuel

IN the Caribbean, summertime is expected to beryllium the play of sun, sand, and crystal wide waters—for decades, Mexican abrogation destinations similar Cancun, Cozumel, and Tulum person been synonymous with paradise. But past the sargassum began to arrive. For the past 15 years, ample quantities of this brownish-colored seaweed person been invading beaches astir the Gulf of Mexico each summer, its accomplishment from the unfastened seas coinciding with precocious tourism seasons.

Forecasts from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory astatine the University of South Florida bespeak this summertime could beryllium the worst connected record, with up to 400,000 tons of sargassum predicted to lavation up connected Mexican coasts. As good arsenic covering up the soil and spoiling the quality of the country’s pristine beaches, the seaweed releases gases arsenic it decomposes—toxic hydrogen sulfide, arsenic good arsenic the greenhouse gases methane and c dioxide.

A study by the Inter-American Development Bank estimates that sargassum drives down section GDP by 11.6 percent successful Quintana Roo, the coastal authorities location to the tourer blistery spots of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. The Mexican edifice assemblage says that it costs them much than $100 cardinal a twelvemonth to wide sargassum from beaches.

Exactly what’s causing truthful overmuch seaweed to flood the Caribbean remains a debated topic. Experts person pointed to warmer water waters, ever expanding amounts of cultivation fertilizer flowing into the ocean, and changes to water currents arsenic imaginable culprits. But the definitive origin of these algal blooms has yet to beryllium pinned down.

For technologist Miguel Ángel Aké Madera, an adept successful nonconventional energies, washed up sargassum needs to beryllium processed successful ample quantities to halt it being a problem—and successful his view, this tin beryllium achieved by utilizing it to marque biofuel.

“By processing 500 tons of sargassum, 20,000 cubic meters of biogas is obtained,” says Aké Madera, who is the laminitis and manager of Nopalimex, a Mexican institution pioneering generating state and energy from biomass and farming waste. A cubic metre of biogas tin supply the aforesaid magnitude of vigor arsenic a liter of gasoline. “An mean state presumption successful Mexico sells betwixt 20,000 and 25,000 liters of substance daily,” helium says. “500 tons of sargassum regular could fulfill an equivalent demand.”

Esteban Amaro, manager of the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network, agrees that substance is the champion merchandise to absorption on. Processing the seaweed into different user products is possible, but inadvisable fixed that the wellness risks of doing truthful person not yet been sufficiently studied.

“I judge that sargassum’s intent is to nutrient energy, due to the fact that erstwhile it decomposes, it releases galore dense metals specified arsenic arsenic, lead, and cadmium,” Amaro says. “Therefore it is amended to nutrient biofuels oregon biogas than mundane products similar covering oregon shoes.”

A Potential Source of Carbon Credits

In the contention to dispose of sargassum, determination is different viable product—Sargapanel, a operation worldly developed by researchers astatine the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). These panels usage betwixt 60 and 70 kilos of bedewed sargassum per portion and connection respective advantages compared to accepted paneling: The worldly is astir 33 percent much flexible, has greater absorption to impact, and is simply a occurrence retardant. In addition, nary chemic additives are utilized successful its production, truthful it tin beryllium recycled: Once its beingness rhythm is over, it tin beryllium shredded and reintegrated into the accumulation line.

“With this project, not lone bash we lend to reducing the occupation … we besides make profits from c credits. For each 5 tons of bedewed sargassum, a c recognition is generated, and each recognition is worthy betwixt $10 and $30,” says Miriam Estévez González, caput of the radical that developed Sargapanel astatine UNAM’s Center for Applied Physics and Advanced Technology (CFATA) successful Juriquilla, Querétaro.

Estévez estimates that if 4,000 tons of adust sargassum were processed into paneling each year, this would make an yearly nett of betwixt $80,000 and $240,000 arsenic good arsenic absorbing the equivalent of 8,000 tons of CO₂. “Making a comparison, we would beryllium removing from circulation astir a 1000 cars,” she says.

CFATA scientists, successful collaboration with academics from different UNAM departments, person besides developed respective different products, among them Sargabox—cardboard packaging boxes that are besides fire-resistant—as good arsenic filters that tin beryllium utilized to region contaminants from water, including microplastics.

“In the lawsuit of Sargapanel, we already person the indispensable technological studies and a registered and scalable inferior exemplary that is afloat competitive, and we are approaching immoderate companies that are leaders successful operation materials,” says Estévez.

On February 28, the politician of the authorities of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama Espinosa, announced the enactment of the Sargasso Comprehensive Sanitation and Circular Economy Center, whose purpose is to displacement the macroalgae from being considered a contamination occupation toward it being utilized arsenic an economical and biology resource. If processed into long-lasting carnal products, sargassum tin fastener distant the c it draws from the situation to grow; if turned into a biofuel, it tin debar immoderate fossil substance emissions.

The halfway volition chiefly beforehand utilizing sargassum to nutrient biogas and integrated fertilizers—replacements for products that usually effect successful greenhouse gases being released erstwhile made and used. The halfway volition past merchantability c credits disconnected the backmost of these emissions reductions.

“There are European countries that cultivate algae to make energy, but it is different, due to the fact that they sow it specifically successful the oversea truthful that it tin make determination and past they tin process it. In our case, it is an algae that is caused by earthy issues, by the summation of the somesthesia of the seas, by the effect of clime alteration owed to the irrational usage we marque of our discarded that we dump into the sea,” says Aké Madera. “All this biomass develops successful tremendous quantities that extremity up successful the Caribbean.”

The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Dominica person developed palmy aviator projects for utilizing sargassum for biogas production, but nary person done truthful connected a ample scale. “They are waiting to spot what Mexico does,” says Aké Madera.

Although the halfway is inactive nether development, 2 imaginable sites person been identified successful Cancun for its installation. The authorities of Quintana Roo plans to harvester its enactment with that of wastewater attraction plants, which volition nutrient a blend of sewage and microbes known arsenic “activated sludge” that tin beryllium utilized to marque biogas erstwhile determination aren’t monolithic quantities of sargassum available.

What if the Sargassum Disappears?

One of the main limitations of Mexico’s projected sargassum manufacture is the question of whether specified ample quantities of the seaweed volition ever beryllium available.

“There volition beryllium atypical years, similar the past one, successful which small sargassum arrived, owed to changes successful water currents, but it volition proceed to arrive, if not successful Mexico, past successful galore parts of the Caribbean,” says Estévez. “We person to larn to beryllium with it and springiness it a existent and businesslike use.”

For Aké Madera, sargassum, similar galore different types of biomass, tin beryllium utilized to make vigor energy, electricity, oregon conveyance biofuel, depending connected the processor’s priority. He besides doesn’t spot a hazard successful pushing up with plans for a sargassum industry. “If astatine immoderate infinitesimal sargassum stops arriving, we tin regenerate it with nopal,” a benignant of cactus. Aké Madera is the proprietor of respective biofuel patents, among them ones for processing nopal and sargassum, and another, a enactment successful progress, that involves tequila vinasse, a byproduct of producing the fashionable spirit.

For now, sargassum appears to beryllium present to stay. Scientific forecasts constituent to water temperatures expanding each year, which creates the perfect breeding crushed for the macroalgae, though progressively probe is pointing towards water existent changes besides being a cardinal operator down seaweed overrunning the Caribbean, and predicting however these mightiness displacement successful the aboriginal is difficult.

“The twelvemonth with the astir sargassum successful the Mexican Caribbean country was 2018, with 22 cardinal metric tons—that is, what was floating successful the full Atlantic Ocean, from Africa to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean,” says Amaro. “However, records of the University of South Florida, published successful May, already bespeak 37.5 cardinal tons [is contiguous successful the h2o this year], and successful June we surely reached 50 cardinal metric tons.”

Of this floating sargassum, astir 1 percent reaches the beaches of Quintana Roo, but this is capable to disrupt tourism crossed wide scope of destinations. Among the worst-affected beaches are those of Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Bacalar, Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Mahahual, and Chetumal. Destinations successful the northbound of the peninsula are besides affected, but to a lesser extent.

For Amaro, sargassum is the biggest biology contented facing Mexico, arsenic it poses economic, social, environmental, and wellness problems. Despite this, helium says, it’s besides important to admit that erstwhile it is successful the sea, successful smaller quantities, the seaweed forms an important portion of the section marine ecosystem. “Many food larvae, invertebrates, commercially important fish, and different taxon specified arsenic whales and sharks make there, depending connected the shadiness of the sargassum and its accumulation of nutrient successful the aboriginal stages of their beingness cycles.”

In the future, immoderate sargassum could beryllium harvested from the oversea earlier it hits Mexico’s beaches. On June 9, the Mexican Institute for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Research projected classifying the algae arsenic a fishery product and listing it successful the country’s National Fisheries Charter, which would let it to beryllium harvested and marketed. As portion of this proposal, the institute sent a probe vas retired to oversea to illustration and analyse floating sargassum, the h2o it lives in, and the taxon it supports. Ultimately, the institute said successful a statement, this cognition could 1 time “enable its recognition and seizure connected the precocious seas, earlier it reaches the beaches.”

This communicative primitively appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.