We all know that petroleum-based plastics are destroying our planet, but what we don’t always realize is that not all plastics that are called biodegradable are benefiting the planet. For instance, it can cost a whole lot of money and energy to produce plastics that are called “biodegradable”. In search of a way to produce truly green, biodegradable bioplastics, scientists are turning to the excess renewable electricity that can’t always be stored. Basically, the scientists are taking that excess electricity and feeding it to microbes that consume the energy and turn it into a polymer that can be used to make carbon-neutral bioplastics at a low cost. The scientists say deriving bioplastics out of microbes not only opens new doors for sustainable bioplastic production on our resource-limited planet but also during space exploration as astronauts could create sustainable bioplastics using 3D printer technology.
Scientists are feeding excess clean energy to microbes to produce bioplastics
More of Today's Solutions
Monterey Park becomes first US city to permanently ban data centers
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Monterey Park voted 86 percent to 14 percent last Tuesday to permanently ban data centers from the city. ...
Read MoreHow the act of learning to read rewires the brain and changes the way you hear
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Learning to read does something to the brain beyond teaching it to decode text. A new study in ...
Read MoreThe future of sustainable fashion: self-healing mushroom-based leather
The environmental impact of the fashion industry has become an increasing worry in a society where fast fashion has been the standard. But there ...
Read MoreFDA finally pulls the plug on Red Dye No. 3 in food
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM After decades of debate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned Red Dye No. 3 from ...
Read More
