العربية
March 5th, the consortium for the Blue Harvest project came together for a fruitful meeting. This consortium consists of the Dutch partners: Wageningen Environmental Research, Dealin’ Green, Royal Eijkelkamp, Vybrant, and the Omani partners: Sohar Port and Freezone, ELAF Centre of technology (part of GUtech), Sultan Qaboos University and Sohar University.
The Blue Harvest initiative focuses on cultivating Elephant Grass (Miscanthus) to produce renewable raw materials for use in 3D-printable biobased concrete and bioplastics. This project plays a significant role as a Nature based solution for Climate adaptation (storing water and in reducing salinization), storing CO2 and aligns with the Oman Vision 2040.
After the start of the project in September 2024, and the groundbreaking ceremony in January 2025, the consortium is now focusing on effectively preparing the Demonstration site at Freezone in Sohar, so the Elephant Grass can be planted at the start of the growing season in November. Already 200 plants are planted at the test sites of our partners (Sohar University, GU Tech and SQU) and at the Research Centre of the MOFWR.
The Sohar University research team, represented by Professor Ghassan Al Kindi, Professor Rajamohan Natarajan and Dr Osama Ibrahim, participated in the collaborative international project. The research team, under the supervision of Professor Rajamohan and Engineer Abdul Rahman Al Shibli, are currently conducting the cultivation of Elephant grass (120 plants of Miscanthus) under controlled environment conditions in SU Green house. The civil engineering research team lead by Dr Osama Ibrahim will conduct the on-site studies related to soil quality near Sohar port and free zone.
The scaling up potential for this project is becoming clear, and the interest from circular bio-based value chain is growing. Consortium partners will present the project at Oman Water Week and the Oman Sustainability Week.