A family vacation ruined by seaweed results in an international project to create electricity from brown algae.
Israeli businessman and entrepreneur Ygdal Ach was vacationing with his family in the town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic when he came across a disturbing sight – huge amounts of smelly brown seaweed scattered all over the shoreline, marring what otherwise would be a perfect beach experience.
“When we got there, we were all waiting to see the amazing beaches and the clear waters. When we woke up the following morning, we suddenly saw that the beach is full of brown seaweed that smells bad, and my youngest daughter wasn’t willing to get in the water,” he recounts. “We were all very disappointed with the situation and I tried to understand what was going on there.”
Ach is the founder and CEO of Y.A. Maof, an Israeli company that works on environmental and waste disposal projects.
As such, when he went out on his morning run, he asked the resort employees who were busy shoveling the seaweed off the beach what they do with it. He was aghast to learn that the seaweed was being taken to a local dumpster where it was left to dry before being burned.
A boat ride and tour confirmed the magnitude of the algae problem, he says.
Intrigued, he decided to investigate the situation further.“I took a bag and filled it with seaweed and I brought it to Israel, but only after my wife told me not to dare put it in her luggage.”
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