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Anaerobic Decomposition

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Anaerobic digestion is an ideal solution to multiple problems. It could help solve the waste overflow and lack of resources to create energy. In the twenty-first century, we can’t be single-minded. We have to open our minds to a world of possibilities. Without doing so our planet will perish; if Earth is destroyed in the near future, we will perish along with it. If we consider any topic, we have to look at it from all the angles available. Though anaerobic digestion opens a whole new door to environmental preservation, it also closes others. There are drawbacks, but the benefits greatly outweigh them. Before I get into any detail about how wonderful anaerobic digestion is, I should explain how it works. It all starts with anaerobic bacterium. Eons ago, fossil fuels were created by the use of anaerobic microorganisms. They are one of the oldest life forms on Earth. They existed before plants started giving off large quantities of oxygen. This bacterium is also the same type of microorganism that creates natural gas today. Anaerobic decomposition differs greatly from aerobic decomposition in the fact that anaerobic decomposition happens without the need of great quantities of oxygen. Don’t forget that the planet is also running out of healthy, clean air for life forms to breathe. The anaerobic digestion process consists of three stages, each implementing the use of different bacterium. During this process, one must first define the ideal temperature; for mesophilic bacterium it is 98 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.7 degrees Celsius, but for thermoplilic bacteria, the ideal temperature is 130 degrees Fahrenheit or 54.4 degrees Celsius. At first, a group of microorganisms converts organic material to a form that a second group of organisms utilizes to create organic acids, but what happens to the solids left over? The solids are called sludge, or effluent. Some of the

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