She programs an overhaul of the existing nitrogen cycle process, by which excess nitrogen in the variety of animal waste from industries like agriculture and aquaculture is turned again into an inert gas and unveiled into the environment. As a substitute, Dr Robinson proposes a system that will recycle this waste by making use of it to feed sea cucumbers and maritime worms – so-named deposit feeders – which can then be farmed as a large-protein food supply for human beings and livestock and may well even be employed to generate electrical power.
Sea cucumber has been referred to as a superfood, as it is high in protein, low in extra fat and loaded in nutritional vitamins and minerals. It is eaten during Asia and the Middle East and there are studies currently investigating its medicinal qualities.
Dr Robinson, who is based mostly in Mauritius, explained: “Proper nitrogen administration will be essential to feed a rising global inhabitants, approximated to reach 9 billion by 2050.
“Current technologies to deal with nitrogen-abundant effluent concentrate on changing reactive nitrogen – nitrogen that is offered to most organisms – again to its inert sort as nitrogen gas in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, nitrogen is far too beneficial to be lost. Alternatively than hunting to boost systems for lasting removing of nitrogen, we can recuperate this important useful resource to pioneer sustainable food items output systems and catalyse a new revolution in the nitrogen cycle.”
Dr Robinson’s technique introduces carbon and gets rid of oxygen from the process to persuade uptake of nitrogen in just deposit feeders, which do the job with microorganisms in a natural way current in their intestine and the surrounding soil or sediment to transform the squander into large price protein.
She added: “The electrical power produced by the micro-organisms breaking down the squander is harnessed as a sustainable resource of electrical energy, when the addition of carbon resources and deposit feeding invertebrates will improve the overall power technology opportunity of the technique.”
Dr Robinson is one particular of 78 recipients of a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship these days.
Through the system of her fellowship, units will be formulated in maritime and terrestrial options in tropical (Mauritius) and temperate (Uk) environments.
Dr Robinson mentioned she hoped to produce a lower-price tag method for the foodstuff production sector that can improve earnings, whilst decreasing environmental impacts, notably in decrease profits tropical international locations. It is envisaged that substantial-scale adoption of the technologies would have the possible to protected food stuff and feed output techniques for generations to come.
