Anaerobic digestion

America is facing a food crisis. 40% of food in the United States goes uneaten, while simultaneously, one in six Americans does not have nutrition necessary for survival (Gunders 4). Producing this food uses energy, land, water, and other materials, only to end up in landfills. Something needs to be done to prevent this food wastage and its negative effects. With so much riding on the issue, a question needs to be addressed: to what extent can food wastage be utilized in America to benefit…

microbiome or microbiota is defined by Joshua Lederberg (scientist worked in genetic microbiome); these organisms are found in the skin or mucus membrane. They have the ability to extract the necessary energy to stay live. The host utilizes them for digestion, production of nutrients, removal of toxins, attacks on pathogens and to strengthen the immune system (Scher and Abramson, 2011). The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) was started by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during 2007 to a…

Everyone has heard of the impending doom of global warming. Over the last decade, most people have verbally expressed that it was a myth. Now, with the extreme transmutations in our climate, people are finally opening their eyes. The elevating temperatures and extreme weather patterns, pose the question, how could this have transpired? Well, let me tell you. Global warming is defined in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as: the elevation in the earth’s atmospheric and marine temperatures…

Giardia intestinalis is a flagellated unicellular eukaryotic anaerobic organism that commonly causes diarrhoea disease throughout the world (Adam, 2001). Entamoeba histolytica is a non-flagellated unicellular eukaryotic (Petri, Singh, and and, 1999) with both aerobic and anaerobic capabilities (Montalvo, Reeves, and Warren, 1971), however it is generally considered to be anaerobic. Both are capable of motility, however the methods for this differ. G. intestinalis possesses flagella, which beat…

What takes up parts of the Earth’s land, pollutes the air, and diminishes resources, time, and money? It may be shocking, but food waste is the answer. No one would think that throwing a few fries and the last bite of a burger away would be a big deal, but when you think of everyone who throws away their leftovers, it adds up. All of the food waste has to go somewhere. It doesn’t just disappear or stay in the garbage truck forever. Everyday people all over the U.S. throw out their food, whether…

I grew up in Buffalo, New York, where I was surrounded by Niagara Falls, Lake Erie, and their many beautiful tributaries. I remember the years when the creek behind our customary campsite would fill holes deep enough to swim in and we built rock bridges to cross its depths. More recently I remember the years when that same creek ran bone dry. How could it be possible for a flourishing water supply to shrivel up and die? Today 's world is filled with conflict, often small discrepancies blown out…

Athens citizens discarded waste in the streets until legislators banned the practice in 320 B.C., enacting the first recorded waste disposal law. Organized waste collection emerged in the late 1800’s, with metropolises such as such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and London discarding collected raw debris in the nearest body of water. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the United States produces over 254 million tons annually. Today, municipal services reduce the…

The remaining biomass (algal residues) primarily made of protein and carbohydrate was subjected to anaerobic digestion, producing biogas for power generation. However, recent conceptual approach is considering the energetic yield form algal biomass for the co-production of other fermented products (e.g., sugar to ethanol, butanol or other biofuels), as it could…

Under normal physiological conditions, the function of the colon and the rectum is responsible for the very last phase of digestion. Water is absorbed from the digested material (mostly liquid at this point) by the colon to form stool. Subsequently, the dehydrated stool then moves into the rectum for storage until signals are sent for its expulsion from the anus (Silverthorn, 2012). When carcinomas occur in either the colon or the rectum, they are collectively labeled as colorectal cancer.…

other perks for businesses, or individuals, when donating to charities could lead others to follow. Unique solutions are applied to diverse situations, such as turning the food scraps into fuel. An article discussing how this is done states, “anaerobic digestion has been drawing attention as a method that can not only accomplish greenhouse gas reduction but also use the food waste as an energy source” (Dahl 181). Methods such as these promote reduction of waste, while also cutting harmful gas…