While manure is often used as fertilizer for crops, regulations designed to protect the environment do not allow farmers to use untreated manure on fields that already saturated with elements like phosphorus. Lee Blaney, assistant professor in the department of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, is developing new technologies in his lab to remove phosphorus from agricultural waste, such as chicken litter, to transform it into two highly valuable products: processed animal litter that can be used as fertilizer and chemicals that can be sold to farmers with land that is deficient in rather than saturated with particular nutrients.
Blaney explains in a new Voice of America video that he sees this challenge as an opportunity to turn agricultural waste into a product that is profitable, and does not pollute the environment. His thought process is to ask “What’s in there? Can we extract it and turn it around into a valuable product?”
For updates on the work of the Blaney Lab, see their website and Twitter.
