Fight against eutrophication of marine and coastal waters & promote carbon capture
Planctonid addresses global challenges, cleans water and fights eutrophication and climate change. Planctonid uses salt water from the sea* to cultivate certain species of microalgae and produce high quality proteins for example.
* About 75% of the world’s drinking water is currently used for extensive agriculture and raw materials. But this model is not sustainable.
What is eutrophication ?
Eutrophication is the most important process of water pollution. This process is caused by the excess of nutrients in water, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, mainly due to human activity (Hypernutrition in Nitrogen and Phosphorus linked to human activities, including intensive agriculture and urban and industrial wastewater treatment).
Causes of water eutrophication :
-
Agriculture : Nitrogen fertilizers are used on crops, seep into the soil and reach rivers and groundwater.
-
Livestock : animal waste is rich in nutrients, especially nitrogen.
-
Urban waste : mainly phosphate detergents.
-
Industrial activity : spills of nitrogen products and phosphates can occur among many other toxic substances.
Air pollution: emissions of nitrogen and sulphur oxides react in the atmosphere to produce acid rain, thus providing nutrients to water bodies. -
Forestry activity : forestry residues left in the waters degrade, providing all the nitrogen and other nutrients that the plant had.
The massive reduction of the eutrophication phenomenon will allow the seas and oceans to regulate global warming and resume their role as the lungs of the planet.
Conventional solutions, such as chemical-based industrial water treatment, are not viable in terms of energy costs and carbon emissions. This costly treatment is paid for in full by the public. The innovation developed by Planctonid not only captures nitrogen and phosphorus before they are released into the natural environment (and thus avoids further eutrophication), but also significantly immobilizes CO2.
Planctonid’s solutions meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals :
- Action on Climate Change
- Aquatic Life
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
