Innovation of technologies in food, energy, and environmental nexus

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The world is faced with challenges to food security to feed 7 billion that must be met within the context of climate change, environmental degradation, and continued population growth and demands for fuel. Globally, an estimated one third of harvested food is lost before it can reach the consumer. Preventing such losses will help to ensure food security and to relieve the need to exploit new land for food production. Also, the agricultural sector generates up to one third of greenhouse gas emissions, thus waste management is important. To address these issues, the objectives of the proposed program are to: (1) develop methods using electro-technologies for processing of food crops and for producing biochar; (2) develop high pressure storage technologies and optimization of conditions for different horticultural produce to increase nutrient content, and to maintain quality and freshness; and (3) optimize methods to use agriculture wastes as feedstock for biochar production, for biorefineries, and for microbial fuel cells to generate electric power. These seemingly disparate lines of research have risen from my core interest in post-harvest technologies for drying and storage of crops. My research in drying and thermal treatment of foods has focused on using electro-technologies based on microwaves (MWs), radio-frequency, and pulse-electric fields in different systems. We also studied the use of these technologies to extract valued compounds from biomass, to pasteurize egg products and in-shell eggs, to disinfest grains, and for chemical synthesis. The proposed program will continue this line of research into the use of high voltage electric-fields for drying of temperature-sensitive foods and for denaturing proteins such as gluten. This has implications for addressing gluten allergies. We also started work on MW-assisted systems to produce high quality biochar and hydrochar from agricultural residues. My initial studies in storage were on modified and controlled atmosphere systems. Since then, we have characterized optimal conditions for heat treatment to control pests in storage, and examined the use of environmental stresses such as UV irradiation to stimulate antioxidant production in stored produce. In this line of study, we are exploring hyperbaric treatment of produce prior to storage to improve quality and to extend storage life without refrigeration. We will develop this technology for field and industrial use. We have started a new line of research into improving the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFC), which will be useful in remote areas where electricity is unreliable. We have examined using syngas as a carbon source, and we have worked on characterizing physical aspects of MFCs for the purpose of scale-up. Our attention will now be focused on using agricultural waste as a source of carbon. The proposed program builds upon our strength in the application of physical sciences’ principles to biological systems. In this body of work, we discovered a strong need of a multi-disciplinary approach which integrates strands from different disciplines to take into account the biological and engineering aspects of research questions; this has helped us to develop innovative processes and technologies to achieve viable solutions. We will continue to use this approach. The proposed program has many innovative aspects such as a process using high voltage electric fields for drying foods and to denature gluten; MW-assisted pyrolysis to produce high quality biochar from agricultural wastes; hyperbaric treatment process to improve quality of food and extend storage without refrigeration, and scaled-up MFC to provide electricity from wastes. This will impact on many sectors.