Adding an electrical jolt to fermentation of industrial food waste speeds up the process and increases the yield of platform chemicals that are valuable components in a wide range of products, new research shows. In this study, the food waste consisted of ice cream and sour cream – but the team has expanded the work with experiments using coffee grounds and lake algae. Conventional practices consist of placing food waste and bacteria in a bottle, adjusting nutrient levels and incubating the materials at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. “Carbon dioxide is still there, but most of it is consumed, and it gives us hydrogen gas – an additional product. The work dovetails with an increased focus on using food waste and agricultural residue to create biobased products, Saba said.