Over the past three years, the Mexican government and private sector have been supporting and funding both commercial and academic projects aiming at finding innovative solutions to mitigate the sargassum problem in Quintana Roo.
This November, BBVA’s National Sustainability Challenge, in collaboration with the Riviera Maya Hotel Association (AHRM), will recognize three standout projects that have shown great potential in addressing this phenomenon, which continues to wreak havoc across the Caribbean.
Winning Projects
- Sargapanel — This academic project, led by Dr. Miriam Estévez González from UNAM, focuses on creating gypsum panels using sargassum, which can be later used as a sustainable construction material.
- Bioenergy and Bioproducts — Felipe Neri Rodríguez Casasola from the IPN (National Polytechnic Institute) developed a project that utilizes sargassum as a raw material for bioproducts, offering clean energy alternatives.
- Phosphorus Removal from Wastewater — Dr. Juan Muñoz Saldaña from Cenaprot (National Center for Thermal Projection) designed a project to use seaweed to remove phosphorus from wastewater, making it less environmentally harmful to ecosystems.
The competition will also give a special shoutout to Dr. Shadai Lugo Loredo from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León for her innovative sargassum-clay modular domes, created using 3D printing technology. These structures help regenerate coral reefs and marine ecosystems and have already been successfully implemented in Cozumel.
Meanwhile, several other entrepreneurs and academics across the Caribbean have expressed interest in developing businesses that capitalize on the large amounts of sargassum washing ashore every season.
In order for you to enter this prestigious competition, your project must focus on transforming the massive seaweed arrival into economic opportunities and sustainable solutions for the region through innovative approaches.
Keep in mind that the ultimate goal of both the government and BBVA is to reduce dependence on tourism while boosting local economies.
Academic institutions “tell us whether it’s feasible to proceed with these projects, and once they are implemented, they become a business, which is the ultimate goal: to turn waste into a raw material and create a parallel industry around sargassum while reducing reliance on tourism,” said Toni Chaves, president of the AHRM.
Two months ago, representatives from the European Union, along with high-ranking officials from Jamaica, Cuba, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, visited Mexico to discuss regional solutions because “we are the country that has made the most progress on the issue,” said Chaves.
But Caribbean businesses and authorities are not the only ones recognizing the economic potential of sargassum.
The world’s largest retail platform, Amazon, has announced a massive $1.66 million investment in sargassum research and future commercial applications through the first commercial-scale seaweed farm in the world.
As part of Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund (RNCF), the company is establishing a seaweed farm called North Sea Farm 1 (NSF) in the Netherlands to test and improve algae cultivation for carbon capture and storage, as well as for future development of products like food, clothing, and biofuels.
“This project plays a vital role in Amazon’s broader sustainability story and everything we do to explore and support ways that can restore biodiversity and help fight climate change,” said Roeland Donker, Amazon Country Manager in the Netherlands.
Turning to another topic, authorities have officially declared the end of the 2024 sargassum season in the Mexican Caribbean, based on data from satellite observations, according to Esteban Amaro Mauricio, hydrobiologist and Director of the Sargassum Monitoring Network.
The seaweed season ends with the arrival of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, as it produces changes in geostrophic marine currents and water temperatures in the eastern Caribbean, disrupting seaweed growth.
Amaro also announced that beachgoers can look forward to a “sargassum-free Christmas,” which has prompted local hoteliers to prepare special promotions for the holiday season.