Calcutta, India, Waste egg shell or the skin seems not many people have used. However, a recent study found that eggshells can help tackle climate change.

Researchers from the University of Calcutta, India, has shown that the membrane lining the eggshell can absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, almost seven times the weight of the egg itself.

“Carbon dioxide can be stored in a trap when this form, with the effective energy method for using this gas can be found. Then hoped would not happen again the environmental problems associated carbon emissions,” said Basab Chaudhuri, principal investigator from the University of Calcutta, as Medindia launched on Monday (1/11/2010).

Chaudhuri explains that the egg shell consists of three layers, the cuticle on the outer layer, and calcium contents of the middle layer and chewy on the inside. The middle layer consists of fiber and protein that bound to the calcium carbonate. This membrane can absorb CO2 and is right under the skin with a thickness of about 100 micrometers.

“To get this membrane, we have to separate the membrane from the cuticle. Membrane separation is not an efficient process,” said Chaudhuri. But according to researchers led by Chaudhuri, weak acids can help and can be used to separate the membrane from the shell to be used as an adsorbent (sinks) of carbon dioxide.

“Separation of mechanics will be conducted for industrial-scale process. However, all people can reduce CO2 levels by exposing the membrane on the egg shell after he ate an egg,” closed Chaudhuri. This research has been published in International Journal of Global Warming in October.