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Your Future Clothes Could be Made from Methane

posted by martyb on Saturday October 07 2017, @10:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the future-looks...ripe dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

This biotech startup uses methane-eating bacteria to create fully biodegradable polymers.

Mango Materials is a biotech startup from San Francisco that has come up with an ingenious method for transforming methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into plastic. The process involves feeding methane to bacteria, which then produce a biodegradable polymer (polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA). This polymer can be spun into polyester fabric and used for clothing, carpets, and possibly packaging, although the company is most focused on the garment industry right now.

The methane used by Mango Materials comes from a waste treatment plant in the Bay Area, but the company is looking at partnering with other sources of methane, such as dairy farms, in order to get more. The technology creates value for methane, which is a novel idea.

How long would it take to fart a sweater — are we talking one burrito, or two?

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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday October 08 2017, @01:58PM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday October 08 2017, @01:58PM (#578876) Journal

    Oh, and to the article's question of how many burritos for a sweater, I think you'll find the number to be in the thousands.

    So we should get the special, then?

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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday October 08 2017, @05:27PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday October 08 2017, @05:27PM (#578910)

    At least - if you think of it, the burrito generates methane by bacterial decomposition of its own components, so even if conversion was 100% efficient, there's hardly enough mass in one burrito to make a sweater, even a special. Now, factor in ruffage, energy extraction by the burrito eater and their gut bacteria, carbon that gets converted to things other than methane, inefficiencies...

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