Turning Harmful Algae Blooms into Renewable Energy in Lakeland, Florida

The Problem of Algae Blooms

• ⚠️ Florida lakes are facing a significant problem with toxic algae blooms, caused by excess nutrients and runoff.
• 📈 These blooms are exacerbated by increasing sun and heat, pushing lakes to a tipping point.
• 💀 If left untreated, algae blooms become toxic to wildlife, contribute to red tide, and can be deadly to pets.

AECOM's Algae Harvesting Solution

• 💡 Dan Levy of AECOM has developed a patented algae harvesting process to remove excess nutrients from lake water.
• 🔬 The system uses microbubbles to gently bring algae to the surface for scraping, separating it from the water.
• ✅ Clean water is returned to the lake, while the harvested algae is transformed into valuable resources.

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Uses

• ⚡ The harvested algae is repurposed as a sustainable agricultural amendment.
• ✈️ More excitingly, it serves as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel and sustainable diesel fuel.
• ♻️ AECOM's technology can also be applied to other organic materials like biosolids, sargassum, and food waste.

Scalability and Future Potential

• 💧 The goal is to manage algae to a controllable, sustainable level within lakes, making them healthy for wildlife.
• 🌍 AECOM hopes that more Florida areas will adopt similar projects for large bodies of water to address the growing algae bloom issue.