Today’s Solutions: December 11, 2024

The premise of carbon capture technologies is simple: remove the greenhouse gas from the air and store it somewhere safe or turn it into something useful. So far, though, developing such technologies at scale has proved rather tricky. One of the main challenges has been finding the right material that can bind to carbon atoms released into the atmosphere.

But scientists at Clarkson University claim that they have recently discovered a promising — though unsavory — candidate that can do the job well: waste milk. The unpleasant-sounding research, which was published in the journal Advanced Sustainable Systems, has the potential to not only help us control carbon emissions but also prevent food waste that often contributes to them.

An estimated 50 million gallons of perfectly-good surplus milk goes to waste every year. Instead of pouring it down the drain, the Clarkson researchers found milk to be a good source of activated carbons — the porous material that sticks to carbon. And since so much of it is wasted, milk is both cheaper than other sources explored as well as more environmentally friendly.

“Powdered milk can be converted into advanced activated carbons with the right porosity and surface chemistry to adsorb the CO2,” said study coauthor Mario Wriedt, “allowing much better control than with the current materials used for this process, like coconut shells or coal.”

Using waste milk to help advance carbon capture technologies seems like the perfect opportunity for dairy farms to reduce their infamous footprints of greenhouse gases. At the same time, it could also help increase farmers’ incomes as they would be able to sell more of their products.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

AI to the rescue: how technology slashes stillbirths and saves lives in Malawi

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When Ellen Kaphamtengo, 18, experienced intense stomach pain late in her pregnancy, she trusted her intuition. With her ...

Read More

Save the spirit guardians: Hawaiian crows get a fresh start on Maui

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For the first time in decades, five Hawaiian crows, or 'alalā, are soaring freely on the lush slopes ...

Read More

Singapore’s Seletar airport considers plans for electric flying taxis

Seletar Airport is the city-state of Singapore’s lesser known second airport. It’s a small airfield normally frequented only by private jets, but soon it ...

Read More

Vent to your friends without bringing them down with these expert-approved tips

We've all had days when everything seemed to go wrong. Workplace drama or an argument with a loved one can really get us fired ...

Read More