Belgian scientists are digging through panda poop for an unlikely reason: biodiesel. They are trying to understand how exactly giant pandas are able to break down the tough bamboo they eat. The answer to this question might be the key to unlocking a sustainable and cost-efficient way of producing the biofuels of the future, Yahoo News reported.
There are a couple of points of interest in the study of Korneel Rabaey, a professor for biochemical and microbial technology at Ghent University. First, pandas are actually genetically made-up as carnivores but their diet is mostly comprised of bamboo. Second, the focus is not really on the panda's feces or stomach but the enzymes and microorganisms in the panda's gut.
It is these microbes and enzymes that are responsible for breaking down the bamboo, according to the Reuters report on this. "We can look for new enzymes which could be used to degrade tough biomass," Rabaey said. The use of enzymes to break down biomass can make so-called second generation biofuels, or fuel from biomass not intended for consumption such as corn stalks.
It has been widely publicized how corn for food had been largely diverted to fuel production which, left unchecked, will lead to a food crisis. Second generation biofuels could be the way out of the deadlocked food versus fuel issue which basically gives humans the difficult choice of using land for food or for biofuels.
Parts of plants normally just thrown away coupled with the use of microorganisms would be a cheaper and more sustainable method. If microorganisms could be used to break these down, then that would definitely lower production costs and will even help the environment.
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