Quintana Roo Turns Sargassum into Biogas

Chetumal, Q. Roo. — The state of Quintana Roo is at the forefront with the first pilot plant that generates biogas by transforming sargassum and sludge from wastewater treatment plants, stated the Secretary of Ecology and Environment, Óscar Rébora.

The official said that the state government, headed by Governor Mara Lezama, has channeled 40 million pesos into research on biodigestion and biogasification processes, placing the entity at the head of this procedure in Mexico, Latin America, and the world.

Rébora Aguilera attended a meeting with the Commission for Environment and Climate Change of the state Congress, as part of the review of the Third Government Report of the Quintana Roo governor. He told the local deputies that from the research process on the industrial destination that can be given to sargassum, it was proven that of the 140 uses, only the production of biogas and bioethanol have proven viability.

The resulting products must be subject to certifications from the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks and the Ministry of Health, since the degradation of the seaweed causes health problems, which is why it requires a certification process for each of the products. This has been done, he commented, by following up through a committee involving the Secretariats of Science and Technology, and Environment and Natural Resources, the Academy, and scientists during the transformation of the seaweed.

Tests at the pilot plant, which is fed with the macroalgae collected from the sea and coast, were carried out for 14 months. Through biodigestion, gasification, and biomass boiler processes, it was proven that both sargassum and residual sludge can be processed together efficiently, which is why "the project is ready to be scaled to an industrial level."

Regarding the required financing of up to one billion dollars, he said there is interest from private capital funds from the Netherlands, such as Dutch Clean Tech, which have expressed interest in the biogas plant powered by sargassum. The cited financing will serve for the valuation infrastructure, which will allow the model to be taken to a large scale and position Quintana Roo as a benchmark in the circular economy.

"The above is a solution for the sustainable management of sargassum and organic waste," he expressed.

Quintana Roo is the only state that has allocated a budget to research, which has resulted in the operation of the pilot plant, something that has not been done anywhere else.

The official reported that the state is also a national and Latin American benchmark in addressing the macroalgae, through the Environmental and Detection Monitoring Center, which is supported by satellites from the European Space Agency linked to the security complex Command, Control, Computing, and Communications Center (C5). In the cited facility, the use of technology allows for the mapping of beaches and the deployment of special brigades in complex scenarios, as has occurred with the sargassum landings in Tulum and Mahahual.

During the three years of Mara Lezama Espinosa's government, more than 81,000 tons of sargassum have been collected, and 9,500 meters of marine containment barriers have been installed, with a designated investment of 36.2 million pesos.

To date, there is one sargassum vessel, the ARM Nayans BSO-101, 11 sargassum boats, 22 marine engines, one crane, three cargo trucks, one transport vehicle, four forklifts, and three pressure washers. Likewise, there are 22 companies authorized for collection and transport, nine temporary collection centers, and two private ones.

The state official mentioned that so far this year, approximately 500,000 tons of sargassum have arrived in the state.