Belize hints at turning sargassum seaweed into biofuel

Belize has been reported to be developing a pilot project to convert sargassum seaweed into biofuel.
Prime Minister John Briceno said in a statement that a $50 million (€47 million) facility, the result of a public-private partnership with German company Variodin, would convert municipal solid waste and sargassum into diesel fuel replacements.
The facility could be scaled up with more financing, he said, adding that it would sign a power purchase agreement for energy generated from the plant.
“The sargassum seaweed invasion [is] causing economic, social and environmental wreckage across Belize and the Caribbean," a spokesman for the regional bloc CARICOM said.
"Removal is a vicious cycle of never-ending sargassum, a cycle that removes the seaweed but also the sand, causing further damage to the coastline.
"Research conducted shows that conversion of sargassum into the Belize energy mix is a viable solution to the problem," he concluded.