Overview

• Semarnat official José Samaniego outlined a proposal to create a company with Central American and Caribbean partners to convert sargassum into sustainable aviation fuel, following talks at a regional climate ministerial in Mexico City.
• Mexico’s energy ministry says the country has an SAF roadmap but no specific production project, while researchers at IPN advance biodigestion trials for biogas and Yucatán opened a plant to make biofertilizers and foods from sargassum.
• Cleanup operations report roughly 70,000 tonnes collected in Quintana Roo so far this season with totals possibly reaching 100,000 by season’s end, triple 2024, as scientists estimate about 50 million tonnes floating in the Atlantic.
• A new Quintana Roo center is using ESA Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to forecast landings and direct containment and beach-cleaning efforts, including the placement of offshore barriers.
• Floating barriers off Playa del Carmen have kept local beaches noticeably cleaner, yet decomposing accumulations still emit hydrogen sulfide, methane and CO2 that threaten health, marine life and tourism.