Is Seaweed the Future of Biofuel?
(American Friends Tel Aviv University) …While biomasses grown on land have the potential to inflict damage on the environment, the researchers believe that producing biofuel from seaweed-based sources could even solve problems that already exist within the marine environment. Many coastal regions, including the Red Sea in the south of Israel, have suffered from eutrophication — pollution caused by human waste and fish farming, which leads to excessive amounts of nutrients and detrimental algae, ultimately harming endangered coral reefs.
Encouraging the growth of seaweed for eventual conversion into biofuel could solve these environmental problems. The system that the researchers are developing, called the “Combined Aquaculture Multi-Use Systems” (CAMUS), takes into account the realities of the marine environment and human activity in it. Ultimately, all of these factors function together to create a synthetic “human-made ecosystem,” explains Prof. (Avigdor) Abelson.
…The researchers are now working to increase the carbohydrate and sugar contents of the seaweed for efficient fermentation into bioethanol, and they believe that macroalgae will be a major source for biofuel in the future. The CAMUS system could turn seaweed into a sustainable bioethanol source that is productive, efficient, and cost-effective. READ MORE and MORE (oilPrice.com) and MORE (Investor Insight) and MORE (TheBioenergySite.com)
