Molly Morse's problem is plastic. Plastics are made from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.
Plastics also have a negative impact on our neurological, endocrine and reproductive systems. You can find plastic waste on remote Hawaiian beaches, in food for cows in India and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.solveforx.com/moonshots/solve-for-x-molly-morse-on-replacing-plastics
Morse's proposed solution is to replace plastics with a substance that gives us the benefits without the problems.
Her constraints are prohibitive. The technology has to be usable anywhere in the world. It must be biodegradable. And it has to be cheap.
Every ton of bioplastic that is produced can reduce CO2 emissions by ten tons. Biodegradable plastics can replaced thirty percent of the world's plastic needs. This would account for over five hundred million tons of carbon dioxide.
The solution is bacteria.
Morse's favorite bacteria are those that consume methane and create polyhydroxyalkalate, a bio-polymer that can replace the commonly used polypropylene in most applications.
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Morse's company, Mango Materials, is working to refine and produce bioplastics and benefits from the fact that methane is a relatively inexpensive fuel source, especially if it comes from waste energy. This new field of industrial microbiology is making lots of progress but still has large problems to overcome.
The current limitations are scaling up the technology, daily sterilization of the tanks, and using a non-sugar food source for the bacteria. Molly is working to confirm that the processes don't require excess amounts of water or energy, and that they will not have a negative impact on the local ecosystem.
https://www.solveforx.com/moonshots/solve-for-x-molly-morse-on-replacing-plastics
The plan is to locate the facilities where the methane is produced and near where the plastics will be used to lower transport costs.
