Project Name | Marine oil spills: Green biological Emulsifiers agents production and autonomous Robotic tools for response optimization | |
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Funding entity | Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia | |
Project leader | Frederico Ferreira/IST | |
Project manager | IPMA/Miguel Caetano, GEOMAR, MPI, SGN, UBielefeld, AWI, JUB, BGR, MARUM, UKiel, NIOZ, UUtrecht, TUDelft, UGent, RBINS, DNVGL, NIVA, UResearch, GRIDA, NTNU, (CESAM) UAveiro, CIIMAR, (CIMA) UAlgarve, IMAR, Ifremer, UniVPM, NHM, USou, ULodz, ISA, NHH SNF | |
Description | The title of this proposal borrows from Epinephelusitajara, known in Portugal (Azores) and Brazil as Mero, a large Atlantic fishspecies that can reach up to 3 m and 400 kg size. The marine ecosystem that supports species such as Mero, is impressive in itsrichness and abundance, offering immense opportunities in terms of resources, scientific knowledge and wonder for human kind. Atthe same time, the sea is also a privileged source of oil and a natural and often risky route for its transportation. In this context, thehuman needs for oil exploitation have imparted renewed momentum to off-shore, deep sea oil exploitation activities in the North(US, UK, Norway, Canada, etc.) and South (Brazil, Angola, Nigeria, etc.) Atlantic areas. Oil drilling and transportation at sea do not come without a burden to the marine environment. Oil spills occur during accidents andleaks of different scales in the course of oil transportation and storage, but also systematically during deep sea oil drilling andsourcing. The consequences of these events are often disastrous, in view of the fact there are no completely closed systems. Forthese reasons, it is important to have the knowledge and tools in place to respond and monitor the consequences of marine oilspills; promoting solutions that will allow oil removal or promote fast oil degradation by natural autochthonous microbial species,minimizing impact in the marine ecosystem, is also an important endeavour. MERO is an exploratory project that aims to set-up the basis for further research in the field
of OIL SPILL RESPONSE (OSR) ANDMONITORING, bringing together expertize from two very distinct
fields, namely robotic autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and bioengineering systems. MERO’s
goal is centered in development and integration of the two complementary aspects:
- the development of a sustainable process combining enzymatic and yeast catalyse for production
of mannosylerythritol lipids(MEL) from lignocellulosic residues, a process protected by EP and US
patent applications for sustainable production of MEL from renewable sources, as recognized by the
Green Awards 2016.
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Start date | 2018-09-06 | |
End date | 2019-09-05 |