The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s most polluted seas and in 2007 HELCOM (Helsinki Commistion - Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission) set up an action plan on how countries around the Baltic Sea should work towards saving the vulnerable sea. In accordance with the action plan, the conference in Helsinki next week includes states, companies and organizations that must undertake concrete measures to save the Baltic Sea.
- Baltic Sea Action Summit mixes actors from industry, research and policy makers, of different sizes and from all over the Baltic Sea region. Saving the Baltic Sea it requires that the sole policy decisions are rooted within all the actors around the Baltic Sea and that practical solutions are applied, says Carl Svantesson who along with Daniel Alvarado and Oscar Johansson, runs the project Seaceron.
- Baltic Sea Action Summit is a great ocation to put words into action, Svantesson continues.
Seaceron has developed a technology that eliminates the toxic substance of hydrogen sulfide formed in the dead sea bottoms. The formation of hydrogen sulfide is due to lack of oxygen arising from the ever more marked eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. The area of the dead sea bottoms with hydrogen sulfide was estimated in 2009 to about 40 000 km2 with an additional 20 000 km2 at risk to develop hydrogen sulfide.
- The technology was developed by biologist Britt-Marie Widheden who works full time with Seaceron’s technological development. Large-scale laboratory tests are being performed now in pools at Chalmers University of Technology and the goal is to within a year have a pilot study out at sea, says Svantesson.
Carl, Daniel and Oscar are responsible for the business development and commercialization of the technology and have since mid-2009 worked full time with the project as part of their master’s project at Chalmers.