The Institute for Research and Development (IRD) has discovered an unlikely source of renewable energy – palm oil and maggots. The Marseille, France-based institute said the synergy of the two products will be economical for farmed fish in developing countries.
"This process will allow us to recycle palm oil refinery waste and turn it into cheap food for fish farms and to produce ‘green’ fertilizer," Saurin Hem, a researcher at the Institute for Research and Development (IRD) in the southern French port of Marseille, told AFP.
Palm oil production, found in Southeast Asia and Africa, generates millions of tons of biomass called palm kernel meal that produces methane. Some palm kernel meal is exported to Europe, the United States and Australia as cattle feed, but the majority is largely left to rot, emitting the foul-smelling, polluting gas in hot tropical settings.
Testing began in Guinea with a mixture fed to a 400-strong shoal of tilapia fish, commonly farmed in Asia and Africa for their large size and rapid growth, but it proved unsuccessful. However, after the mixture fermented, researchers noticed birds and chickens were eating the mixture, and again the scientists tested the product on the fish. The tilapia grew 3.5 times faster than with previous feeds, and gained three times as much weight per day.
Boris Patentreger, head of head of forestry conservation at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that any increase in palm oil production should not cause further deforestation.
"It’s a very good initiative which helps recycle waste and avoids creating more dangerous greenhouse gases. On the other hand, we must make sure we have sustainable palm oil production," he told AFP.
The use of palm oil, reputedly free of artery-clogging trans-fats, is also used as a biofuel in the craze to find renewable energy sources.