Colombian households are well acquainted with activated charcoal, an ingredient present in soaps used for washing dishes and even in others marketed for cleaning the body.<\/p>\n\n
Well, the agricultural residues left by Colombian crops have the potential to become a carbonaceous solid, and even activated carbon, when exposed to temperatures of around 350 \u00b0C. We tell you about the benefits of this technique.<\/p>\n\n
\nYou may be interested in: Offering Bogota\u2019s residents organic food and being a laboratory for agroecological production: the successful project of a Frenchman in La Calera<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
Activated carbon and its effects against pollution<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n
For Colombian producers there are alternatives capable of mitigating the environmental effects of industrialization based on organic residues from the cultivation of fruits and vegetables that are becoming more and more desirable in international markets.<\/p>\n\n
When agricultural waste is subjected to high temperatures, it can be converted into a solid composed of approximately 85% carbon. If this solid is properly activated, it becomes activated carbon. The latter has compounds that facilitate the capture and retention of metals that pollute water resources and even carbon dioxide (CO2) present in the air.<\/p>\n\n
This was explained to the News Agency of the National University of Colombia (UNAL) by Marlon Fabi\u00e1n C\u00f3rdoba Ram\u00edrez, PhD in Engineering – Energy Systems from the National University of Medell\u00edn, who has joined forces to study the use of agricultural waste and the potential of activated carbon.<\/p>\n\n
An opportunity in agricultural waste<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n
It is well known that both seasonal and permanent crops -coffee, sugar cane, corn and rice, among others- emit organic residues that could be used to purify the air.<\/p>\n\n
This accumulation of waste, \u201cwhich includes grass clippings, bagasse, husks, etc., […] can be transformed – through thermochemical and biological processes – into products with high added value with which environmental problems can be mitigated and more nature-friendly energies can be produced, in a way that decreases the use of fossil fuels\u201d, explains C\u00f3rdoba.<\/p>\n\n
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