# Smelly seaweed: could Sargassum fuel the future?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/small-islands-big-picture-6476622/smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/small-islands-big-picture-6476622/smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future.md
Podcast: [Small Islands Big Picture](https://stenobird.com/podcast/small-islands-big-picture-6476622)
Published: 2025-03-10T07:17:51+00:00
Episode link: https://odi.org/en/insights/small-islands-big-picture-episode-14-smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future/
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64a4fd2076d5b800113e6b0d/e/67c734e748f26a4bcaad2fd5/media.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/small-islands-big-picture-6476622/episodes/smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future
Duration seconds: 3040

## Resource

In recent years, many Caribbean countries have experienced a staggering influx of sargassum, a type of nuisance seaweed emanating from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond just its potent smell, sargassum seaweed is wreaking havoc on coastal ecosystems, fisheries and tourism infrastructure. In this episode, Emily and Matt ask where it has come from, why it has become such a problem and what this means for climate change. They also discuss exciting new technologies from small island nations which, in a bid for a more sustainable future, could see sargassum recycled and redeployed across the globe.   Featuring: Emily Wilkinson (host) | RESI Director & Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global Matthew Bishop (host) | RESI Director & Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield Olivia Losbar  | Journalist at Radio Caraïbe International (RCI) Guadeloupe Emma Tompkins  | Professor of Environment, Geography and Development at the University of Southampton Legena Henry  | Lecturer in Renewable Energy at the University of the West Indies and CEO of Rum and Sargassum Inc.   Resources: Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI) 2nd EU-Caribbean Gateway Conference on Sargassum How sargassum causes chaos in the Caribbean Professor Emma Tompkins Sustainable Sargassum Management Rum and Sargassum Inc. Sargassum as an alternative transportation fuel   Listen and subscribe to Small Islands Big Picture on:   Acast ,  Apple Podcasts ,  Amazon Music ,  Google Podcasts  and   Spotify Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/small-islands-big-picture-6476622/episodes/smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/small-islands-big-picture-6476622/smelly-seaweed-could-sargassum-fuel-the-future.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.