If you just keep eating and eating, maybe you can "save the world"?

Before getting into the main topic, I would like to ask you a small question - how much carbon emissions can humans produce simply by wasting food?

According to estimates by the United Nations Environment Programme, 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are closely related to food waste in various links . The carbon footprint of global food waste and processing is equivalent to 3.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere each year . Kitchen waste has become a carbon emission assassin hidden in our lives, which is difficult to prevent, but must be prevented.

With so much kitchen waste, besides traditional methods such as incineration, landfill, anaerobic digestion, and composting, is there another greener, lower-carbon way to go? It is hard to imagine that the answer to this question will fall on a tiny creature.

The black soldier fly, whose scientific name is Hypocrea sphenodon, is an insect of the genus Hypocrea of ​​the family Smilocidae in the order Diptera. It currently mainly lives in the area between 46° north latitude and 42° south latitude. It is mainly distributed in Hubei, Henan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Anhui, Inner Mongolia and other places in China.

High-energy warning below!!! People with claustrophobia and insect phobia please swipe past quickly!!

Black soldier fly larvae | Vanke Charity Foundation

In the second-instar larval stage, black soldier flies will eat a lot. Under certain temperature and humidity conditions, they can even continue to eat for 7-9 days. This extremely small insect has an amazing appetite. From 1 mm to about 17 mm, black soldier fly larvae can eat kitchen waste that is 200,000 times heavier than themselves, and their volume can increase 4,000 times in just 8 days. At the same time, the diet of black soldier fly larvae is also quite extensive: fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, animal carcasses, feces...Except for bones, crude fiber and chitin, it can digest almost all kinds of organic waste. This also makes it the "chosen one" for processing kitchen waste.

Another high-energy warning below

Black soldier fly larvae are processing kitchen waste | Photo: Guoke

In recent years, the technology of using black soldier flies to treat organic waste such as kitchen waste has been promoted in many provinces and cities, including Guangdong, Hubei, Shandong, and Guangxi. Treating "eating" with "eating" is becoming a reality.

The advantages of black soldier flies go far beyond processing kitchen waste. Studies have shown that for every ton of kitchen waste eaten by black soldier flies, about 200 kilograms of fresh insects and 250 kilograms of insect feces can be harvested, which can be processed into high-quality protein feed and organic fertilizer.

Black soldier fly feces compost product | Vanke Charity Foundation

As a protein feed, black soldier flies have advantages in nutrition, safety and price. From a nutritional point of view, black soldier flies are rich in nutrients such as protein, crude fat, and natural antibacterial substances. Using black soldier fly larvae as protein feed can generally improve the feed quality of aquatic animals, poultry, and pigs, thereby improving the health level of farmed animals. From a safety point of view, the large amount of crude protein, antimicrobial peptides and other ingredients contained in black soldier flies also play a certain role in the prevention and control of diseases in the aquaculture industry. Its price is also much lower than that of other high-quality protein feeds such as fish meal caught from the ocean.

After being harmlessly treated, black soldier fly feces are very suitable for use as soil conditioners or substitutes for organic fertilizers. Harmlessly treated feces have high nutrient content and can increase the organic matter content in the soil by changing the diversity and richness of soil microorganisms, improving the physical and chemical properties and biological activity of the soil . It is a high-quality organic fertilizer that can be used in agriculture, forestry, and urban greening.

Black soldier fly larvae can be used to feed chickens in community households | Vanke Charity Foundation

In addition, black soldier flies have corresponding application scenarios and prospects in the bioenergy industry, food processing industry, pharmaceutical industry and cosmetics industry, such as: making low-cost high-quality biodiesel and pet food, for new drug development and cosmetic oil additives, etc.

At the same time, black soldier flies do not fly around like houseflies to disturb human life, nor do they spread diseases and harmful substances. The secondary pollution during the breeding process is relatively small - basically no wastewater is generated, and the odor-producing area is small and easy to handle. Safety and peace of mind are maximized.

Therefore, using kitchen waste to feed black soldier flies and then feeding the resulting downstream products back to other fields can form a complete, safe and efficient circular development chain, allowing people to maximize the reuse of resources.

Black Soldier Fly Related Products Display | Vanke Charity Foundation

Perhaps in the near future, we will see the black soldier fly kitchen waste treatment model enter more communities, and more advanced, environmentally friendly, and easier-to-implement waste treatment methods will gradually emerge in the public eye and enter every corner of urban and rural living environments. A green tomorrow is not out of reach.

Author: Guokr Nature

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)

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