Once helpful to the marine environment, sargassum seaweed has long since become noxious in the Caribbean, where it causes damage to local ecosystems and tourists by washing up in vast quantities on beaches.
Nonetheless, a group of local scientists has been attempting to use this environmental catastrophe as a springboard by turning the seaweed into biogas that can run vehicles.
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Dr. Legena Henry, the founder of the biogas company Rum and Sargassum, and three other researchers are assisting Shamika Spencer, an Antiguan PhD student at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus in Barbados, in developing a biogas production system that can utilize wastewater from rum distilleries, Blackbelly sheep manure, and Sargassum seaweed.
Spencer told reporters that “from a young age, I always felt this deep sense of sadness when I saw people littering or mistreating animals and just the environment on the whole … so I always also had a passion for the environment.”
Further describing her academic background, Spencer: “I grew up in Swetes Village in Antigua and I attended the Antigua Girls’ High School followed by the Princess Margaret School and Antigua State College. Then I pursued a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus and then biosafety and now I’m pursuing my PhD in environmental studies.”
Rum and Sargassum Inc. claims that beach restoration expenses in the Caribbean were US $120 million in 2018 due to the need to cure decaying sargassum seaweed along coasts. Green.org, on the other hand, claims that biofuels provide benefits including reduced emissions as compared to fossil fuels, the ability to create jobs, and energy security.
As part of the research, Spencer had to do biomethane experiments and figure out the best ratio to use for producing biogas by mixing wastewater from rum distilleries with Sargassum seaweed.
These studies, which last for around 30 days on average, give important information about the fuel’s potential.
Spencer noted that “the aim is to take rum distillery wastewater and Sargassum seaweed to produce the fuel, so there’s actually fewer vehicles that have compressed natural gas compatible engines.”
Spencer continued, “If implemented successfully, this alternative combustion method can avoid as much as 1 million metric tons of CO2 emissions every year in the country.”
Beyond the Sargassum project, Spencer expressed her interest in other environmentally friendly projects she has come across.
Spencer shared with reporters, “In terms of green-friendly initiatives, I would have seen … simple things like turtle watching … making sure that the streets are lit with these red lights so that the turtles don’t come onto the road and get run over.”
Numerous organizations, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Venture For ClimateTech, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and HIT RESET Caribbean (Harnessing Innovative Technologies to Support Resilient Settlements on the Coastal Zones of the Caribbean), have endorsed the initiative.
Spencer thinks that the findings of this study may have significant future ramifications for the countries of the Caribbean.
She expressed that, “There are several Caribbean islands that have … a goal of being completely fossil fuel-free by the year 2030, and I think that [this project] actually contributes to this overall goal that the different Caribbean [countries have],” she noted.
Spencer explained, “It removes the Sargassum seaweed sustainably and helps both the tourism sector and the health of the environment, and then it’s also reducing the numbers of fossil fuel-powered vehicles and fossil fuels emissions that are released into the atmosphere.”
