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French delegation visits companies and institutions working on the valorisation of sargassum and agricultural waste in the Dominican Republic
Together with representatives of INTEC, they visited the facilities of Consorcios Cítricos Dominicanos, Fundación Punta Cana, SOS Carbon and Algea Nova, as well as six member universities of the Interuniversity Sargassum Network. They also held a virtual meeting with representatives of ASONAHORES.
SANTO DOMINGO. – Within the framework of the project “ResAGro CooperationFranco-Dominican cooperation on the valorisation of sargassum and agricultural waste”, financed by the French Embassy in the Dominican Republic and implemented by the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), ten representatives of a French delegation from different institutions and companies from France and the French Lesser Antilles Islands toured the facilities of Dominican companies, organizations and universities, with the aim of learning about their experiences in issues related to the valorization of sargassum and agricultural waste in order to work on collaborative projects with the country.
Visitors included Sarra Gaspard from the University of the Antilles; Hélène Roux de Balmann, Patricia Taillandier and Virginie Vandenbossche from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse; Rafik Balti and Yusmel González Hernández from the Centrale Supélec at the Université Paris-Saclay; Isabelle Polaert from INSA-Rouen; Henry Joseph, president of Phytobokaz, a laboratory in Guadeloupe specialising in phytosymbiosis; Emma Duclaut from the ADEME Environmental Protection Agency in Guadeloupe-Martinique; Yasmine Encelade from SMO Solar, all of whom are part of the “ResAgro Sargasso” project.
The week of activities began with the Conference “Valorization of Sargassum and Agricultural Waste” at the INTEC facilities inaugurated by Brigitte Veyne, advisor for cooperation and cultural action of the French Embassy, and included a meeting with the French ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Sonia Barbry, during the closing ceremony of the “Underwater Dominican Republic” exhibition by photographers José Alejandro Álvarez and Ysabela Coll, which was exhibited at the French Alliance in Santo Domingo.
“The main objective of this visit by visitors from Metropolitan France, Guadeloupe-Martinique and Guyana is to exchange experiences that each of us has on the topics associated with the objective of the project and, in turn, to begin working on the technical proposal for new projects that will allow for scientific-technical collaboration with the participation of both countries,” said Jáuregui during his speech.
Likewise, the aim is to prepare ideas for future calls for the ResAgro-Sargassum project, such as the one announced by the French Development Agency for the sargassum issue, where France, through this organisation and Expertise France, will make available to the Caribbean region, starting in 2025, eight million euros as a donation for research related to sargassum.
This week of work will also generate a scientific publication to be submitted to an international journal, where teachers will share some of the working hypotheses that were discussed in the first two days of the conference.
Yasmine Encelade, technical director of SMO Solar, shared her interest in long-term joint collaboration. “It is an interesting meeting with institutions and companies because as Caribbeans, we share the same concern about sargassum and biomass residues, it is always important to understand that we have the same soil and we can help each other,” she said.
“I am impressed with the technologies you have here. I really didn’t expect it. I would say that you are leaders in the Caribbean in terms of the sargassum issue and other issues, because I see that you advocate a lot regarding the optimization of biological products,” said Yusmel González Hernández, researcher at CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay.
Emma Duclaut, a specialist in the field of sargassum at ADEME, Martinique-Guadeloupe, said that this type of exchange guarantees future collaborations with the institution she represents, in the face of the challenge of sargassum valorisation. “In France we have many small projects, but nothing on a large scale like, for example, Algeanova and SOS Carbon, creative and innovative projects, it was interesting to see this,” she said.
Visit to Dominican companies and organizations that work on the valorization of agricultural waste and sargassum
Being in the facilities of Dominican Citrus ConsortiumsBelonging to rich group, were received by the general manager Horacio Lomba, who presented the coconut production unit, where they saw how various products derived from it are created.
INTEC has established links with the company to assess the environmental impact of the production of products, within the framework of the valorisation of agricultural waste, in order to demonstrate and guarantee its long-term sustainability.
When in the facilities of the Punta Cana Foundation, were guided by Jake Kheel, Vice President of Environment, who shared with visitors the initiatives developed by the organization to ensure environmental care and recycling of organic waste through its Sustainability Center.
Among the projects are vermicomposting, which consists of converting organic waste into compost for the gardens of its more than 70 hotels and golf courses. Likewise, the creation of compost with sargassum, a project developed with universities in the country in which they measure the usefulness of this resource for recycling purposes.
Christopher Walker, general manager of SOS Carbon, shared with the French about the mechanical system for collecting sargassum on boats that the company uses, with which they can collect up to 70 tons per day and then market it to national and international organizations interested in the material.
Likewise, Manolo Despradel, president Algea Nova, a company dedicated to cleaning beaches by collecting sargassum, shared the different methods they use to collect this algae.
They have boats built specifically for the installation and maintenance of anti-Sargassum barriers, as well as for harvesting up to four tons of sargassum per hour.
Virtual meeting with ASONAHORES
During their week-long stay in the country, representatives of the French delegation held a virtual meeting with the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES), with whom they discussed their respective research and interests in the conversion of sargassum into energy and valuable resources.
Sandra Piña Fernández, representative of Asonahores, highlighted the significant impact of sargassum on the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic, particularly in Punta Cana, and the challenges faced by the private sector in its management.
During the brief meeting, participants emphasized the need for collaboration and contributions from hotel representatives to explore the potential of sargassum as a resource for tourism. Participants in the meeting included: Ashley Acosta and Porfirio Quezada, from Asonahores; Valentina Lantigua Light, from the Iberostar Hotels & Resorts; Magna Pig de Nickelodeon Resorts y Mildred, from the Melia Hotels.
Visit to universities
French researchers visited the facilities of six of the ten member universities of the Interuniversity Sargassum Network, including INTEC during the conference on the Valorisation of Sargassum and Agricultural Residues.
They were also present at the Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal University (UFHEC), Pedro Henríquez Ureña University (UNPHU), APEC University (UNAPEC), ISA University and the Pontifical Catholic Mother and Teacher University (PUCMM).
During their visit to ISA, located in Santiago de los Caballeros, they witnessed the projects “Valorization of sargassum in synergy with mycorrhizae to improve plant cultivation” and another on the optimization of the processes for obtaining activated carbon from sargassum, carried out in collaboration with INTEC.
Accompanied by Pavel Corniel, dean of the Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, they visited the Biotechnology and Genetics laboratories, where work is being done on the development of plants of commercial interest for the country.
At PUCMM, Santiago campus, they visited the Nanotechnology and Microelectric Grids laboratories, in order to learn about the country's innovations in these areas. They were accompanied by Virginia Flores, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, and Martha Báez, Director of Research.
Within the framework of the ResAgro-Sargassum project, representatives from academia and private companies will visit the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which will take place in the first week of December. Later, representatives from INTEC will visit the French universities that are currently collaborating with the project.