A Nelson-based company has figured out how to create energy from
slime and clean up water in the process. Freshwater and fuel,
two of the most pressing issues on the planet. Nelson-based
Aquaflow is working on both simultaneously. The company has
developed ways of improving the purification process in
municipal wastewater ponds by removing unwanted algae. The
really clever bit is that they then take the algae and turn it
into more than 100 chemical compounds. This includes material
that can be processed into a range of fuels for vehicles and
aircraft, as well as chemicals for a range of other commercial
applications, including health, hygiene and textiles. And
Aquaflow can create this ‘green crude’ in 30 minutes, compared
to what the Earth naturally does to similar material over
millions of years to create fossil fuels. The irony is that a
lot of the algae has been formed in the first place by
overstimulation from fossil fuel-based fertilisers being washed
off farmland, so this is also a great way to reclaim