Re-greening Vietnam
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military used the herbicide Agent Orange to defoliate Vietnamese forest. The chemicals in Agent Orange persist in the soil to this day, making reforestation nearly impossible.
Karl Rockne, a professor of civil, materials, and environmental engineering, is investigating new technologies in bioremediation that could reverse the damage and bring back to life more than 8,000 square miles of vegetation.
To achieve this goal, he and colleague Dang Thuong Huyen from Vietnam National University plan to use plant-based biochars sourced from agricultural waste stocks to destroy the polluting chemicals.
Biochars often are used to modify soil and are beneficial for a couple of reasons. One, they absorb hydrophobic organic pollutants, making treatment more efficient. Two, they can help specialized bacteria that remove the chlorine from the chemicals in Agent Orange, resulting in the release of non-toxic by products such as chloride.
By using plant-based products to treat pollutants caused by plant defoliants, Rockne said the research presents “a symmetrical approach to the problem.”
“We have literally traded places between the target and the pollutant by using biochar, made from plants, to destroy the pollution caused by the use of defoliants to kill the plants,” he said.