The 40 Hottest Technologies of 2018 – as voting gets underway, the nominees in depth
Seawater Energy and Agriculture System
What does it do, how does it work, who is it aimed at?
The Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (SEAS) is the flagship project of the SBRC. This project combines an integrated system of aquaculture, halo-agriculture, and mangrove silviculture to produce sustainable biofuels for aviation and other byproducts such as seafood. In the system s operation, water is pumped from the sea to supply the aquaculture ponds to breed shrimp and fish. The nutrient rich water is used to irrigate and fertilize Salicornia fields, where salt-loving (halophytic) plants that are capable of growing in arid land with saltwater irrigation will be harvested for their oilseeds and can later be converted into aviation biofuel. The leftover seed meal can be used as feed for the fish and shrimp, or as a source of protein for animal feed. Finally, the effluent coming from the Salicornia fields will be channeled to mangrove swamps, which filter the water before it reaches the sea again. The mangroves also act as a carbon sink due to their extensive root structure.
Competitively, what gives this technology an edge?
The SEAS concept relies on the use of seawater, non-arable land and sunlight to generate food, bioenergy in the form of aviation biofuel while mitigating CO2 emissions. Therefore, it does not fall into the traditional debate of food vs biofuel. Seawater agriculture is a completely new concept that could potentially open a whole new industry.
What stage of development is this technology at right now?
The SBRC broke ground on its 2 hectare pilot facility for its flagship project, the Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (SEAS), on May 2016 at Masdar City. The pilot is a facility that aims to evaluate the process of growing seafood and Salicornia Bigelovii using marine aquaculture wastewater for the purpose of generating useful products such as food and biofuels, and to determine the technical parameters for an efficient operation to scale up the concept to commercial levels.
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