Mona Webber, Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the Centre for Marine Sciences and Discovery Bay/Port RoyalMarine Laboratories at The University of the West Indies, has been leading a research project on sargassum. She shared some of the findings, stating that sargassum has good potential for making fertilizer and can be used as a manufacturing raw material. However, it has too much sodium and arsenic, which makes it unsuitable for composting. When it rots, it produces hydrogen sulfide, which is a bad gas, so it must be handled with care. Despite this, sargassum could have many economic spinoffs, such as bio-digesters that can produce bio-methane. In Barbados, it is being used to generate bio-methane, and in another Caribbean island, a fertilizer production system is being based on sargassum.
Photo caption: Prof. Mona Webber
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Published on 18 Apr, 2023
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