Consumers, businesses and researchers have shown growing interest in microalgae in recent years. Use of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) as a food supplement is one example. Others include how microalgae can be used as crop support tools, bioplastics or biofuels. Agriculture is destroying the planet: algae is the answer The emerging and predicted impacts on agricultureContinue reading “Soy and palm oil agriculture is destroying the planet: algae is the answer”
Tag Archives: biotechnology
Palm oil substitutes can offer beleaguered rainforests a fighting chance
Palm oil is a versatile substance used in a wide range of products from foods to cosmetics. The trouble with it is that the cultivation of oil palm trees has caused massive enviromental harm, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for 85% of palm oil production in the world.
But scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the University of Malaya in Malaysia say they have an answer as to how we can wean ourselves off palm oil.
Reasons to Hope: Palm Oil Alternatives Made Without Deforestation
Environmental organisation Milieudefensie have calculated that every second, around 169 trees are cut down in tropical rainforests. So the race is on to find a real solution to stop this! Right now, several new technologies are furiously competing with each other to create a healthier, lab-created alternatives to palm oil. Palm oil has been historically grown inContinue reading “Reasons to Hope: Palm Oil Alternatives Made Without Deforestation”
More protein and good for the planet: 9 reasons we should be eating microalgae
Martina Doblin, University of Technology Sydney; Donna Sutherland, University of Technology Sydney, and Peter Ralph, University of Technology Sydney As the climate warms and deforestation continues at pace, the land we use for growing energy-intensive crops such as wheat corn, soy palm oil is becoming less productive. We need to find ways to feed theContinue reading “More protein and good for the planet: 9 reasons we should be eating microalgae”
Nature’s hidden wealth is conservation’s missed opportunity
Australia has one of the worst extinction records in the modern world. Since European settlement, a third of the country’s native mammals have disappeared. How can we stem the losses? A recent article in Nature highlighted that most federal and state biodiversity conservation policy fails to recognise biodiversity as a major source of industrial products.Continue reading “Nature’s hidden wealth is conservation’s missed opportunity”
Palm Oil Detectives 