Oh Chicken Feathers!

Rather than focus on what came first the chicken or the egg, I’m focusing on what usually comes last (as in the most unused part), often discarded, the feathers. Don’t get me wrong, I love my chickens, their eggs especially, and I love chicken, but I wasn't aware that of the 5 million tons of chicken feathers produced each year, most of them end up in landfills where they can sit for decades without breaking down. I have read recently that when chicken feathers are heated to 600 C for three hours in carbon dioxide, ammonium bicarbonate is produced. This can be used as a fertilizer and a food additive. When warmed to 60 C the ammonium bicarbonate releases ammonia, an important ingredient in urea, an even better fertilizer. Making ammonia (without using chicken feathers) is an energy intensive process so using chicken feathers could actually save some energy. Another thing produced by combining chicken feathers and carbon dioxide are carbon micro-spheres that can be turned into carbon nanotubes for use in solar cells and biosensors. Chicken feathers have also been turned into plastic, hydrogen fuel cells, printed circuit boards, and fashion materials. Oh chicken feathers! I had no idea!