Jarndyce Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 33 minutes ago, Passing Time said: Maybe turn the seaweed into something useful For example? Bearing in mind that either processing it directly or paying someone else to process it will be shouted down by the anti-DBC lobby on cost grounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 23 minutes ago, Jarndyce said: For example? Bearing in mind that either processing it directly or paying someone else to process it will be shouted down by the anti-DBC lobby on cost grounds? Could they not just put it on the land as a fertiliser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Just now, Lilly said: Could they not just put it on the land as a fertiliser? Someone will know more about this than me: but I think I remember reading on here that the high salt content would make it poisonous to some crops, unless it was ‘desalinised’ first. And, of course, any processing adds a cost. Happy to be proved wrong… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilp Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 New methods of processing and utilising seaweed, such as a biofuel, fertiliser, and building insulation are being studied all the time... https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/waste-seaweed-biofuel-fertilizer/ Energy from waste? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 20 minutes ago, Jarndyce said: Someone will know more about this than me: but I think I remember reading on here that the high salt content would make it poisonous to some crops, unless it was ‘desalinised’ first. And, of course, any processing adds a cost. Happy to be proved wrong… Maybe it could be washed first, l have noticed lots of rainwater pouring into the top end of the promenade walls every day; It could be tested regularly; I obviously don't know if it feasible, but we need a solution as it's obviously causing problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 (edited) 18 minutes ago, quilp said: New methods of processing and utilising seaweed, such as a biofuel, fertiliser, and building insulation are being studied all the time... https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/waste-seaweed-biofuel-fertilizer/ Energy from waste? Sorry, l missed this before posting my reply. Edited September 20, 2023 by Lilly Remove I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 @Amadeus? Any of these ideas been looked at, or costed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 1 hour ago, quilp said: Energy from waste? we go for 'waste from energy' over here thanks. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Jarndyce said: Someone will know more about this than me: but I think I remember reading on here that the high salt content would make it poisonous to some crops, unless it was ‘desalinised’ first. And, of course, any processing adds a cost. Happy to be proved wrong… It's not the salt content alone, it's the other 'stuff' that's absorbed by it and goes with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Lilly said: Maybe it could be washed first, l have noticed lots of rainwater pouring into the top end of the promenade walls every day; It could be tested regularly; I obviously don't know if it feasible, but we need a solution as it's obviously causing problems. In some of the remoter places in Scotland it's spread it out on fields and the rain does it's best to wash it, then chop it up and put it on the arable land areas as fertilisers. Most tomato liquid feed contains seaweed. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Suggesting we turn beach seaweed into fertiliser is akin to suggesting we take all the waste tomatoes out of the bin wagons and turn them into ketchup. The seaweed has no commercial value. It's a salty, rotting, contaminated product that's full of plastic waste, amongst other undesirables. It can't be processed and dumped at sea because of conventions on marine dumping. Like sorting through all the bin waste to look for intact tomatoes, washing, processing and sorting waste seaweed washed up on a beach could technically be done, but would cost a fortune and deliver little benefit. Nobody wants seaweed as a fertiliser since there are commercial products that do a better job, and don't contaminate the fields with salt, sand, plastic and oil. Nobody wants it for food, or for industrial products - seaweed for those is clean-harvested from the sea, rather than scooped up in a semi-rotten state. Factors such as contamination from the remnants of the lead industry would also be a factor - mussels at White Strand, for example, were found to have the highest level of lead from the whole of the Irish Sea basin. Fermentation isn't viable, and we have a far better product for fermentation (creamery whey) that's being pumped out into the bay, because of the cost of processing it. Trying to do that with half-rotten seaweed is a lot more costly for little result, and you still have the waste product from fermentation to deal with - it doesn't disappear. It's not an easy issue to solve, and with climate change a lot of countries are finding themselves having to deal with huge seaweed overgrowth. We're not alone. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 2 hours ago, The Bastard said: Suggesting we turn beach seaweed into fertiliser is akin to suggesting we take all the waste tomatoes out of the bin wagons and turn them into ketchup. The seaweed has no commercial value. It's a salty, rotting, contaminated product that's full of plastic waste, amongst other undesirables. It can't be processed and dumped at sea because of conventions on marine dumping. Like sorting through all the bin waste to look for intact tomatoes, washing, processing and sorting waste seaweed washed up on a beach could technically be done, but would cost a fortune and deliver little benefit. Nobody wants seaweed as a fertiliser since there are commercial products that do a better job, and don't contaminate the fields with salt, sand, plastic and oil. Nobody wants it for food, or for industrial products - seaweed for those is clean-harvested from the sea, rather than scooped up in a semi-rotten state. Factors such as contamination from the remnants of the lead industry would also be a factor - mussels at White Strand, for example, were found to have the highest level of lead from the whole of the Irish Sea basin. Fermentation isn't viable, and we have a far better product for fermentation (creamery whey) that's being pumped out into the bay, because of the cost of processing it. Trying to do that with half-rotten seaweed is a lot more costly for little result, and you still have the waste product from fermentation to deal with - it doesn't disappear. It's not an easy issue to solve, and with climate change a lot of countries are finding themselves having to deal with huge seaweed overgrowth. We're not alone. Thank you for the information. Well, it all seems pretty hopeless, then. Doesn't it? The most surprising fact l learned today is that the sea also contains rubber tyre particles off our roads. Might as well just let the digger carry on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 13 hours ago, Lilly said: Thank you for the information. Well, it all seems pretty hopeless, then. Doesn't it? The most surprising fact l learned today is that the sea also contains rubber tyre particles off our roads. Might as well just let the digger carry on! There's always hope. I think in the meantime, the digger is delicately maintaining the balance between pissed-off seafront residents and pissed-off environmentalists. To solve it, we'd either have to find a way to cost-efficiently dry it for incineration, or a cost-effective way to shred/process for semi-natural disposal - on the land, into landfill or somehow into the sea without infringing on marine dumping conventions, given the contaminants in it. Unfortunately cost-effectiveness is the key there - technically a lot of things could be done, but they would cost huge amounts of money, so they're off the table. Some of it has to be down to managing expectations - like buying a house on the TT course then complaining about the racing, seaweed is going to be a factor when you live by the sea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 On 9/20/2023 at 11:38 AM, Jarndyce said: @Amadeus? Any of these ideas been looked at, or costed? Various ideas have been discussed over the years yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piebaps Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 (edited) You could collect it from the beach weekly - or even bi-weekly if you wanted to do it greener. Edited September 21, 2023 by piebaps added devil emoji 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.