Environmental Products of Biotechnology

1. Environmental Products of Biotechnology By: Yours truly Khori Smith

2. Enviro-Pig Is able to digest cereal grain phosphorus there is no need to supplement the diet with either mineral phosphate or commercially produced photoset, and there is less phosphorus in the manure. When the phosphorus depleted manure is spread on land in areas of intense swine production there is less potential of phosphorus to leach into freshwater ponds, streams and rivers. Because phosphorus is the major nutrient enabling algal growth that is the leading cause of fish kills resulting from anoxic conditions, and reduced water quality, the low phosphorus manure from Enviropigs has a reduced environmental impact in areas where soil phosphorus exceeds desirable levels. Therefore the environing biotechnology has two beneficial attributes, it reduces feed cost and reduces the potential of water pollution. Furthermore, the technology is simple, if you know how to raise pigs, you know how to raise Enviropigs!

3. Ethanol • Ethanol is a clear, colorless liquid with a characteristic, agreeable odor. In dilute • aqueous solution, it has a somewhat sweet flavor, but in more concentrated solutions it has a burning taste. Ethanol, • Is a biofuel that helps cars go places and it helps out the Earth at the same time but it cost a lot of money. • to a carbon atom. The word alcohol derives from Arabic al-kuhul, which denotes a fine powder of antimony used as • an eye makeup. Alcohol originally referred to any fine powder, but medieval alchemists later applied the term to the • refined products of distillation, and this led to the current usage. • Ethanol melts at –114.1°C, boils at 78.5°C, and has a density of 0.789 g/mL at 20°C. Its low freezing point has • made it useful as the fluid in thermometers for temperatures below –40°C, the freezing point of mercury, and for other • low-temperature purposes, such as for antifreeze iautomobile radiators. • Ethanol has been made since ancient times by the fermentation of sugars. All beverage ethanol and more than half • of industrial ethanol is still made by this process. Simple sugars are the raw material. Zymase, an enzyme from • changes the simple sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The fermentation reaction, represented by the simple • equation • C6H12O6 • 2 CH3CH2OH + 2 CO2

4. Biodiesel • Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

5. Methane Gas as Energy Source • Methane is combustible, and mixtures of about 5 to 15 percent in air are explosive. Methane is not toxic when inhaled, but it can produce suffocation by reducing the concentration of oxygen inhaled. A trace amount of smelly organic sulfur compounds (tertiary-butyl mercaptan, (CH3)3CSH and dimethyl sulfide, CH3–S–CH3) is added to give commercial natural gas a detectable odor. This is done to make gas leaks readily detectible. An undetected gas leak could result in an explosion or asphyxiation C2H6), and 5% other hydrocarbons, such as propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10). The "firedamp" of coal mines is chiefly methane. Anaerobic bacterial decomposition of plant and animal matter, such as occurs under water, produces marsh gas, which is also methane.

6. Plastic Products made from Corn • The resin, known as polylactic acid (PLA), will be formed into containers and packaging for food and consumer goods. The trendy plastic has several things going for it. It’s made from a renewable resource, which means it has a big leg up—both politically and environmentally—on conventional plastic packaging, which uses an estimated 200,000 barrels of oil a day in the United States. Also, PLA is in principle compostable, meaning that it will break down under certain conditions into harmless natural compounds. That could take pressure off the nation’s mounting landfills, since plastics already take up 25 percent of dumps by volume. And corn-based plastics are starting to look cheap, now that oil prices are so high.Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/plastic.html#ixzz1EiZxAjio

7. Pictures from: Google Images Info from: Smithsoian.com, Good.com, Wisconsian.edu, Biodiesel.com, Uoguelph.ca

8. Questions: • 1- What is the enviro-pig able to digest? • 2- What is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel called. • 3- At what temperature does ethanol boil at? • 4- What compound is methane made of? • 5- How much oil a day does the USA use?