libe blogging AMRO
There is no waste in a circular economy. Plants cannhelp reutilise waste.
A broken food chain requires petrochemicals for inputs, production and transport. Food waste and human waste ends up land filled.
in an intact system, waste is remediated into fertiliser. This is transported by unspecified methods to small local farms. Humans get food via bicycles. The energy storage and input for processing etc is also unspecified.
Some plantsbare hyperaccumulators. They can, say absorb metals to make them harvestable for recycling. Plants also filter air pollution, clean water, and make oxygen. These are Plant Powers!
Hyperaccumulators are not food plants. Argomining can help us collect nickel There’s a British tree that’s up to 25% nickel. Many hyperaccumulators are grasses. The soils are often not very productive, so switching farms to these grasses is good for farmers. However monoculture is not sustainable. And sometimes capitalists get carried away with extraction.
We don’t actually know how the plant gets so metallic. The metal is stored in the leaves. This might have evolved to deter herbivores.
This is being field tested in Oregon, where they are trying to make bigger versions of the plant.
Under capitalism, this needs to compete with normal mining. This impacts sustainability. The plant hybrid was patented. However it is not commercialised at scale.
The plant requires water, mayber fertiliser and harvesting, so its still farmed.
Most species of plants only take up one metal. If you have multiple metal types, you’ll need different plants.
Canola absorbs selenium. California is full of bio mobilised selenium and pollutes water. So canola may absorb it, and make canola oil you don’t want to eat. However, it can be used for bio diesel. And the greens are fine for animal food.
Prickly pears!
Theres a wee tree that can deal with salinated soil and makes latex rubber.
California is fucked. Its low on water and we poisoned the land. Maybe Austrian scientists can save us.
