Mexican Researchers Craft Green Solutions from Seaweed
From beach blight to bio-brilliance: Mexican researchers transform sargassum seaweed into sustainable paper, filters, and water treatment systems, saving the Caribbean's biodiversity.
In the azure waters of the Mexican Caribbean, an unlikely hero emerges from the depths – Sargassum. Yes, that seemingly insufferable seaweed carpeting the pristine beaches has now become the focus of an ingenious project by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In an exclusive interview, Dr. Rodolfo Silva Casarín, a researcher at UNAM's Engineering Institute, shared how they're not just combating the coastal invasion but turning it into a valuable resource for of the environment and local communities.
So, what's the grand plan? It involves revaluing the troublesome sargassum and utilizing its rich cellulose content for creating an array of products, ranging from paper to membranes and filters. Dr. Silva Casarín revealed that this groundbreaking endeavor is a collaborative effort involving the brainpower of researchers from various institutions, including the National School of Higher Studies Mérida, the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology, the National Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences, the Center for Applied Physics and Advanced Technology, and the Renewable Energy Institute.
