Key points
- Scandinavian Ocean Minerals says silicon can be recovered from nodules harvested from seabed sediments in the Bothnian Bay and the Baltic Sea.
- The company says the recovered silicon can be used to manufacture solar cells and semiconductor components.
- Amorphous silicon can also be used to improve arable soil productivity by helping the soil retain moisture.
- Sweden, like other EU countries, is currently dependent above all on China for silicon.
Heard of amorphous, that is, porous silicon? Most people would probably answer no to that question.
But the fact is that this element has an important role to play in the green transition. It is also something we at Scandinavian Ocean Minerals are passionate about. Silicon can be recovered from the nodules we want to harvest from the seabed sediments of the Bothnian Bay and the Baltic Sea. It can later be used to manufacture solar cells and semiconductor components.
This element has an important role to play in the green transition.
But not only that. Amorphous silicon can also be used to make arable soils more productive, since it helps to retain moisture in the soil. That is especially important today, when climate change is driving temperatures up.
If more silicon were available in Sweden it would also reduce import dependence. Today we are, like every other EU country, dependent above all on China.
For me and my colleagues at Scandinavian Ocean Minerals this captures both our business and our vision. By harvesting the nodules from the seabed, where today they do harm, they can instead be refined into silicon among other things and end up in solar cells on a Swedish house roof.
