Methane to Fish Feed
Methane is a 28x more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide on a 100-year time scale, and has been estimated to have contributed 0.5 °C to global warming since 1900. Prioritizing reduction of methane emissions will result in a faster impact on reducing near-term global warming compared with solely focusing on carbon dioxide. At the same time, rapidly growing aquaculture systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, may benefit from alternative high-value protein as fish food supplements that waste methane can be converted into.
Thus, the Luby Lab and collaborators are developing modular biological systems that convert waste methane into high-quality single-cell protein for use in aquaculture feed. By transforming a harmful greenhouse gas into a valuable food input, this work links climate mitigation, sustainable food production, and local economic resilience. We plan to advance this work in Bangladesh due to the high methane emission levels from Bangladesh landfills, historical partnership and collaboration here, and the unique needs in this rapidly expanding aquaculture industry.
Research Themes
- Methane mitigation and climate impact: reducing emissions from waste methane sources with rapid climate benefits
- Sustainable aquaculture and food systems: develop low-cost, high-quality protein for fish feed while reducing dependence on imported fish meal
- Biology-based circular economy: turning waste streams into local economic inputs
- Scaling context-appropriate technology: designing simple, modular bioreactors suitable to environment in which it is build
Food security and livelihoods: lowering feed costs and supporting affordable access to nutrient dense foods
Read more about our project here!
Waste Methane to Fish Feed Sustainability Accelerator Project
Select Publications
Abbadi et al. 2021, Displacing fishmeal with protein derived from stranded methane