IPN Triumphs in the First BBVA 2023 National Sustainability Challenge

Claudia Villalobos

Scientists from the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (ENCB) will contribute sustainably to the comprehensive management of sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean. This is achieved through the development and application of a project that provides an efficient solution for the valorization of this macroalgae as a source of bioenergy and bioproducts. The project earned the first place in the First BBVA 2023 National Sustainability Challenge "Juntos por el Caribe mexicano."

The project, led and developed by researcher Felipe Neri Rodríguez Casasola, in collaboration with professors from the Master's in Sustainability and Innovation in Environmental Technology (MASITAM), Deifilia Ahuatzi Chacón, Angélica Salmerón Alcocer, and Ricardo Monterrubio López, as well as graduate student Emiliano Martínez Tejeda, stood out for its robust proposals to generate biomethane and biofertilizers.

Rodríguez Casasola expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the challenge, noting that many years of experience and work on technological developments in the production of clean bioenergy from industrial waste underlie this achievement. Thus, it is a significant advancement to apply this knowledge to contribute to solving a problem not exclusive to Mexico.

The process presented by the polytechnic team includes the reception and conditioning (cleaning and grinding) of sargassum and the utilization of by-products (biofertilizers and biogas), as well as the potential to obtain high-value edible products such as mushrooms.

During the ceremony held in Cancun, Quintana Roo, where the finalists in the three categories were announced, BBVA Mexico's Vice President and CEO, Eduardo Osuna Osuna, highlighted that the challenge is a strategic instrument focused on achieving, generating, and implementing applicable solutions to mitigate the impacts of sargassum. It also aims to initiate its comprehensive and sustainable management with a circular economy vision.

It is expected that, shortly, with the support of various interested sponsors, the project will be developed and implemented in the Riviera Maya area. With this contribution, the polytechnic team demonstrated the institution's excellence in research and will be part of innovative, feasible, and real solutions to address the sargassum problem by merging the efforts of banking and academia.

Gaceta Politécnica #1759. (November 30th, 2023). IPN Imagen Institucional: Read the full magazine in Spanish here