Inspired by oil spills, a research group from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) has developed a new method for algae control. This summer, they will be on site on Gotland to test it, reports Hela Gotland.
It is during the month of July, when water temperatures reach up to 20 degrees, that algae bloom the most in the Baltic Sea. This year, a research group from KTH will be on Gotland to try to combat cyanobacteria using modified oil booms.
If you can use booms to catch oil, maybe you can also use them to pick up algae, says Fredrik Gröndahl, associate professor of industrial ecology at KTH, to Hela Gotland.
For the task, the booms have been equipped with fine-meshed fabric, which the researchers have borrowed from the wood industry. The idea is that the collected algae can later be used as energy or biogas. If the method works well, you can have algae preparedness in sensitive areas in the future, says Fredrik Gröndahl.
There are boxes for oil preparedness, similarly, I think you can have such boxes for algae preparedness at sensitive beach sections, he says to Hela Gotland.