Zebra Dung New Fuel Source

Zebra poop could one day fuel the cars and buses on our streets! 

Thanks to zebra dung, cars could one day run on fuel made from old newspapers.

Today, we use mostly oil and gas to run our cars; oil and gas come from fossilized plants and animals. But fossil fuels are expensive, and there aren’t enough of them. Scientists are looking for cheaper and more plentiful fuels.

David Mullin is a biology professor at a university in New Orleans. He and his students are trying to make a fuel from plants. Plant-based fuels are called “biofuels.”

He knew that if he could break down “cellulose,” he could turn it into a fuel that could run vehicles.

So Mullin and his students went to the zoo. They collected animal droppings—poop. Their hope was that they would find a type of poop that was able to break down the cellulose and create fuel.

Mullin found what he was looking for in the African zebra pen.

Zebra droppings contain special microbes – tiny living cells, which you can’t see with the human eye. These microbes live in the zebra’s stomach; they help it digest the plants it eats.

This zebra belongs to the sub species, Grevy's zebra. There are two other subspecies of zebra, the mountain zebra and the plains zebras. The quagga subspecies is extinct. I


cited from:http://teachingkidsnews.com
edited by: Nirrosa Muniandy

Mullin found that those microbes were able to break down the cellulose in newspaper, creating a type of fuel. Zebra microbes can also break down the cellulose from cotton, twigs and seeds.

Mullin is now working to make the zebra poop turn other sources of cellulose, like wood chips, into fuel. One day, cars and trucks could be running on cheaper, more eco-friendly fuels—thanks to the African zebra.