I have the pleasure to announce you all that the biogas project I have been working with classmates this summer is now being funded on Kickstarter. After working in Colombia on large scale biogas projects, I have been lucky to work for the past three months with classmates from Pinchot University, Srirup Kumar and Joe McNulty, on a small scale biodigestor.
Small scale biogas projects make so much sense within cities as I have discovered thanks to Srirup :
Imagine that the HORSE can generate significant amounts of renewable energy that can be used for cooking or electric transportation as well as tremendous quantities of liquid fertilizer that can be used locally by organic farmers.
Yes, you read that right, I am currently working on something that is at the confluence of all the major sustainability trends :
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Food Waste. If the EPA estimates are accurate the true cost of food waste is $127 billion per year, over $400 per inhabitant per year.
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The market for organic produce is valued at $35 billion in 2014, expected to double to $70 billion by the end of 2020. All this needs adequate nutrients, energy, water and carbon.
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Renewable sources of energy are gaining traction with the imperative of acting on climate change. Recently President Obama has announced a Clean Power Plan, an initiative to cut emissions of the power sector.
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Increasing urbanization of the global population. As more people live in cities, they need more food. Food can be grown on roofs or in the outskirts of the cities.
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Transportation efficiency, shared vehicles and peer-to-peer models. With the energy produced in our system, we are eligible for renewable fuel standards incentives.
- Sustainable waste management. Today we use energy to transport and dispose of our food waste, rather than harvesting the embedded nutrient, energy, water and carbon (NEWC) value embedded in that material.
We are willing to collect $30,000 in 30 days. So far, we are on track to meet our goals. Please consider a small pledge and please spread the word !