JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2025ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS REVIEW8 OPINIONIN MYSustainable agriculture stands as a paramount concept, embodying practices that harmonize the current demands without imperiling the capability of future generations to meet their own necessities. These methods, such as regenerative agriculture, aim to curtail agricultural runoff, deter pollution of water bodies, conserve water, and uphold soil fertility by reutilizing nutrients within the farming ecosystem. The urgency for sustainable agricultural practices amplifies today, given the widespread degradation and diminished productivity of agricultural soils coupled with the dwindling reserves of traditional fertilizers. This pressure is mounting on farmers to make their operations more sustainable and reduce their environmental footprint, particularly in the realms of climate change and declining water quality.The 2017 EPA National Lakes Assessment Report starkly revealed a distressing reality: the number of lakes in poor condition due to heightened nitrogen and phosphorus levels has nearly doubled since the inaugural NLA in 2007. A chief contributor to this nationwide decline in water quality traces back to fertilizer runoff from agricultural activities. Studies have showcased that a staggering 50-75% of applied fertilizer is lost from fields, seeping into surface water runoff and leaching into groundwater. These surplus nutrients spark rampant algae growth and the proliferation of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), which have caused some of the nation's most complex and challenging environmental problems, affecting almost every state in the U.S. The consequences in places like Florida have been devasting, disrupting communities, damaging tourism, and even leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in 2018.To combat the adverse effects of nutrient runoff, the agricultural sector has embraced Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as the creation of agricultural runoff ponds designed to impede the flow of nutrients from farming operations. Theoretically, these ponds increase retention time, facilitating physical processes like sedimentation alongside biological mechanisms such as bacterial and algal uptake to mitigate nutrient levels. However, during heavy precipitation, these systems reach their capacity, leading to the discharge of nutrient-rich water and algae into downstream bodies. Paradoxically, while algae are adept at absorbing nutrients and carbon, their decay in water bodies can further elevate nutrient levels, exacerbating the formation of HABs.In a groundbreaking stride towards addressing nutrient runoff, Dan Levy, the visionary behind AECOM's Algae practice, and his team of leading algae experts have pioneered a technological breakthrough that revolutionizes sustainable agriculture. Their innovation involves harvesting microscopic algae cells from agricultural runoff ponds and repurposing the recovered algae as an organic fertilizer. This closed-loop, nature-based solution capitalizes on algae's remarkable ability to efficiently absorb nutrients and gradually release them back into the soil as the algae decomposes. The technology breakthrough is AECOM's patent-pending Hydronucleation Flotation Technology (HFT), also known as Algae Harvesting, which efficiently separates microscopic algae from water, returning clean water to the HARNESSING ALGAE: PIONEERING A NATURE-BASED SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTUREBy Dan Levy, Vice President -Environment/ National Director, Algae, AECOMDan Levy
< Page 7 | Page 9 >