Why is Greenland shark may become new source of biofuel?”
The Greenland shark, one of the largest species of sharks, is a nuisance to fishermen and its meat is toxic to humans, but researchers now hope the flesh can be used to create a biofuel for Inuits. Native to the cold Arctic waters, thousands of the sharks get caught and die in fishermen’s nets off Greenland every year. The beasts — which can be compared to the Great White Shark in size at seven metres (23 feet) and can weigh up to a tonne — are thrown back into the sea. But at the Arctic Technology Centre (ARTEK) in Sisimiut in western Greenland, researchers are experimenting with ways of using the animal’s oily flesh to produce biogas out of fishing industry waste. “I think this is an alternative where we can use the thousands of tonnes of leftovers of products from the sea, including those of the numerous sharks,” says Marianne Willemoes Joergensen of ARTEK’s branch at the Technical University of Denmark. Joergensen, in charge of the pilot project based in the Uummannaq village in
