The Wonders Of Waste Processing By Termites
Author(s)
A. H. Hussein
Abstract
The aim of this research is to demonstrate how to use the ecological niche of
termite colonies for the benefit of humans. It is known that termites feed on
papers wastes, particularly cardboard. In a trial experiment to demonstrate this
capability it was found that termites produce hydrogen as a by-product and
wastes of high potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen content. It was then
proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of using termites for getting rid of wastes,
to increase the soil fertility and to produce hydrogen as a source for renewable
energy. To prove the hypothesis, information about the ecology of termites and
its favourable conditions in terms of temperature, moisture and preferable food
sources was collected. Accordingly, several experiments were conducted using a
designed Psammotermes hybostoma hydrogen bioreactor (P.H.H. bioreactor) that
was constructed for growing a colony of termites on wastes of cardboard as a
food source at different temperatures and constant moisture conditions. Results
showed that if we use a medium sized colony (about 2 million termites) then it
can produce about 660 litres of hydrogen every 24 hours. It is therefore
concluded that many environmental problems can be solved using termite
colonies. Solid wastes can be managed by the digestion of paper and cardboards
in the termites’ gut. Also, soil present in the P.H.H. bioreactor can be used as a
valuable fertilizer and the hydrogen produced can be used as a renewable source
of energy.
Keywords: termites, hydrogen production, soil fertility, Psammotermes
hybostoma hydrogen bioreactor, renewable energy, environmental problems.
Keywords
termites, hydrogen production, soil fertility, Psammotermes
hybostoma hydrogen bioreactor, renewable energy, environmental problems.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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