Environment & Energy

OKIsItJustMe

(21,016 posts) Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:19 PM Nov 26

BBC: From eyesore to asset: How a smelly seaweed could fuel cars

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czr71vpz4ypo

From eyesore to asset: How a smelly seaweed could fuel cars
Gemma Handy Reporter
Reporting from St John’s, Antigua

When large swathes of invasive seaweed started washing up on Caribbean beaches in 2011, local residents were perplexed.

…

Now, a pioneering group of Caribbean scientists and environmentalists hope to turn the tide on the problem by transforming the troublesome algae into a lucrative biofuel.

Sargassum has covered some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean, such as this one in Antigua

…

“Sargassum has been plaguing the region for several years,” Ms Spencer, who is from Antigua and Barbuda, explains. “I had always wondered about this new seaweed ruining the beaches in Antigua, and when I came to Barbados to study I noticed it here too.”

The algae do not just threaten tourism. They also pose a threat to human health through the hydrogen sulphide they release as they decomposes, along with native wildlife like critically endangered sea turtle hatchlings which get trapped in thick mats of beached seaweed.

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8 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

BBC: From eyesore to asset: How a smelly seaweed could fuel cars (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe Nov 26 OP

An inpiring read ! I'm just curious -- what happens to the sulfur ? eppur_se_muova Nov 26 #1

Don't the global oil billionaires stop cold any alternative energy source? Irish_Dem Nov 26 #2

Of course. They are trying to stop Hydrogen right now Caribbeans Nov 26 #5

There is huge corruption in China and Russia. Irish_Dem Nov 26 #8

Sargassum Sustains Inventors and Innovators OKIsItJustMe Nov 26 #3

If it's offgassing hydrogen sulfide, isn't it toxic to harvesters? /nt bucolic_frolic Nov 26 #4

They're harvesting it before it hits the shore and starts to rot OKIsItJustMe Nov 26 #6

Thanks I missed that, but I do watch videos at 1.5x speed /nt bucolic_frolic Nov 26 #7

eppur_se_muova

(37,662 posts)

1. An inpiring read ! I'm just curious -- what happens to the sulfur ?

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:25 PM

Nov 26

Is there really all that much of it ? It only takes a very small amount to cause toxic effects.

Irish_Dem

(59,687 posts)

2. Don't the global oil billionaires stop cold any alternative energy source?

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:28 PM

Nov 26

Caribbeans

(1,038 posts)

5. Of course. They are trying to stop Hydrogen right now

Reply to Irish_Dem (Reply #2)

Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:42 PM

Nov 26

"They" decided on batteries long ago and no alternative will be discussed or tolerated. Thank God the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese don't give a flying F.

Federal Report Favors Battery EVs Over Hydrogen

Hundreds of Energy Department Officials Hold Stocks Related to Agency’s Work Despite Warnings

The US is in competition to see if they can become the most corrupt country in the world!

Usually, when you hear the term "Stakeholder" it really means GRIFTER

Irish_Dem

(59,687 posts)

8. There is huge corruption in China and Russia.

Reply to Caribbeans (Reply #5)

Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:49 PM

Nov 26

You have to bribe people to get anything done.
Anyone in power demands a cut of bribes.

And no regulation, in China houses and buildings just fall apart and there is no recourse.
People have to continue to pay the mortgage on a building that no longer exists.

I read a story about corruption in the Russian Army.
An officer learned that a private had striped an Army jeep and sold the tires
and parts. The officer beat the private, not because he had stolen Army property,
but because he didn't give the officer the obligatory cut of the theft profits.

OKIsItJustMe

(21,016 posts)

3. Sargassum Sustains Inventors and Innovators

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:34 PM

Nov 26

https://cavehill.uwi.edu/research/research-impact/areas-of-research/environmental-stewardship/sargassum-sustains-inventors-and-innovators.aspx

Sargassum Sustains Inventors and Innovators
Environmental Stewardship
Sargassum seaweed has the potential to become an invaluable resource, according to a growing body of research at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.

One of the latest and most successful developments, the organic material has been used to help create a biofuel to power vehicles. Visionary Dr. Legena Henry, a Cave Hill lecturer, has since established a business - Rum and Sargassum Inc. The Barbados-based biofuel company was founded in 2021 and utilises rum distillery wastewater and Sargassum seaweed, among other local waste materials, to produce fuel.

“We’re taking Sargassum seaweed with rum distillery wastewater in specific ratios and adding some kind of inoculum (a source of bacteria) and have it run through a process over time (anaerobic digestion), and at the end of 30 days, we see our gas levels increasing. Different formulae produce different amounts of biomethane per gramme,” the founder and Chief Executive Officer explained. The intention is to harvest the Sargassum before it reaches the shores via a system that uses catamarans equipped with conveyor belts.

“We need to have a sustainable way of collecting Sargassum, and so for us, that’s out in the deep. We’re not using beached Sargassum. We wash and weigh and pretreat it … From the biogas, you can upgrade and inject into generators that will send electricity to the national grid, [a system] Barbados already has, or you can upgrade and drive cars and trucks.”

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