The "Corn-Smog" Crisis and the Starch Solution

The haze choking Southeast Asia isn't weather—it's industrial agriculture.

Each dry season, #Thailand and #Myanmar burn millions of tons of corn waste (cobs, stalks, leaves) to clear fields for the next planting cycle. This slash-and-burn practice is a major driver of the PM2.5 pollution that turns skies grey across the Mekong region, causing respiratory deaths and economic losses estimated at billions of dollars annually.

Now, breakthrough research in Chemoenzymatic Starch Synthesis (CSS) —converting CO₂ directly into starch in labs—offers a way out. Producing starch synthetically delivers a double environmental win:

Active carbon removal: CSS pulls CO₂ from the atmosphere and locks it into usable carbohydrates
Smog elimination at the source:

Synthetic starch bypasses corn cultivation entirely—no fields, no harvest waste, no fires

If scaled, this technology doesn't just decarbonize food systems. It clears the air over one of the world's most polluted regions, protecting millions of lives while addressing climate change.

The choice is stark: continue burning our way through harvest seasons, or grow starch from captured carbon.

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/smoke-blankets-thailand-and-burma-myanmar-146460/

https://www.google.com/search?q=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151127/agricultural-fires-in-southeast-asia&hl=en-US

https://tdri.or.th/en/2023/04/challenges-in-tackling-pm2-5-crisis/

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151127/agricultural-fires-in-southeast-asia

#CleanAir #Sustainability #ClimateTech #PM25 #SoutheastAsia #AgTech #CarbonCapture #StarchSynthesis #Thailand #Myanmar #China #AirPollution #Biotech