rethink waste

#FreeTheScience for better living conditions around the world

Waste—whether it’s the 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide humans add to the atmosphere each year or the 1.3 billion tons of yearly lost or wasted food—poses serious problems for the planet: it pollutes our air, poisons our water, and contributes to global warming.

Electrochemists and solid state scientists are tackling waste and improving living conditions around the world through novel reuse systems.

In Hawaii, Dr. Boryann Liaw is turning waste papaya into sugar-air batteries. Elsewhere in the world, electrochemists are turning food waste like tomatoes and bread mold into energy sources for batteries and fuel cells.

When it comes to turning waste into energy, electrochemists don’t stop at food waste: they’re generating power from atmospheric carbon dioxide and even human waste, all while removing those toxins from air and water supplies.