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
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