Rate has more than 40,000 tons of algae and does not know what to do with them. So you will try to monetize them

Desperate and without knowing very well what to do, the Tarifa City Council began to transfer Asian algae (Rugulopterix Okamurae) that they were invading their beaches in a landfill near the deputy of the municipality. It was 2019. Since then, 40,000 tons have accumulated and, like They themselves recognized in October“They don’t know what to do.”

The landfill begins to stay small and the cost of treating all that huge hill of algae exceeds five million euros. Something that the Cadiz Consistory cannot afford. Therefore, for months, they ask that some administration help them out of that dead end.

Without much success, really.

But what do so many algae do there? Is it normal? It depends on what we understand as normal: the Rugulopterix Okamurae It is an invasive plant And, therefore, it is not a traditional problem. However, in recent years, its impact has not stopped growing.

That is an ecological problem (they reduce the biodiversity of each place they arrive), economic (prevents fishing) and aesthetic (produces damage to tourism). But it is also a waste management problem. Because, when they pile up on the beach, they become urban waste.

And accumulate wildly. To put figures, “only in Ceut Antonio Vegara Jiménez said in Newtral.

Now they have had an idea. And, tired of passing the ball from one another, the City Council has approved the installation of an experimental bioreactor of a Valencian company (Poplac Development) With the idea of ​​testing if it is viable to convert that mountain of waste into a mountain of money.

Money? Well, if we want to be precise, it would be in a “mountain” of biogas, electricity and fertilizers. But yes, in general terms, it is about testing if the “public-private collaboration” can give an exit to all that biological material that accumulates near the Strait.

As explained in the economistthe installation that PLACAC DEVELOPMENT prepares could generate a megavatio room for every 15,000 tons. And, in addition, produce fertilizers for agricultural use.

And will it work? Well that is the big doubt. From what we know, there are already projects like this in Mexico and it seems that the results are good. But the sector is very incipient and regulation is very different in Europe.

However, there is something clear: something must be done. The invasive species They are the order of the day And if we do not look for solutions, we will have many more problems than a landfill with 40,000 tons of algae rotting.

Image | Geoff Dude

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