Planning Pool

While some cities are staring to get savvy with organic waste management in municipal composting programs, rarely do you see an integrated approach to sewage or other…less desirable…animal byproducts that creates energy. Biogas is a time-tested technology for the anaerobic processing organic waste to create two very valuable byproducts: methane gas (energy) and nutrient rich sludge (fertilizer). The energy can be piped and used in stoves, heating systems, refrigerators – basically anything that runs from gas (including machines like generators that produce electricity).

A basic biogas system. Thanks to the Unesco Training Manual for this diagram!

Some clever communities, like Bern, Germany, are even compressing the gas and using it as fuel for buses. Although Vancouver’s Olympic Village does deserve credit for passively extracting heat from sewages for … Continue Reading

Portland Food Carts: Photo by Author

In Portland you might enjoy a steaming bowl of curry, while in Accra a spicy box of jollof.  Both purchased for a low cost and in a convenient location.  What is known as a cart in Portland or New York, a kiosk in Accra or Moscow, might also be a booth, pavilion or a stand.  Each is a different form of micro-enterprise that plays an increasingly important role in our cities today. A kiosk is an efficient way for an individual to start a business with low costs and short time, while providing an immediate service to an urban area.  Congruently, the vibrancy of a neighborhood can be accentuated through the articulation of these small forms.  But … Continue Reading

Catawba County and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) are collaborating on an eco-industrial park on the Blackburn Landfill in North Carolina.

Experiments are slated to start in a few months to test the site’’s integrated systems. The facility, named Catawba EcoComplex, hosts a number of facilities where the idea of “waste = food” reigns. In other words, wastes from some processes become feedstock for others.

Right now, the complex hosts a landfill, a landfill gas-to-energy facility, a lumber processor, a pallet manufacturer, sunflower and canola biofuels farms, and a cooperative farm. Catawba County is hoping to add a biosolids processing facility, a greywater processing system, waste-powered steam facility, plastics recycling facility, and an algae research center. The County also forsees developing a smart-grid education center, brick manufacturing, industrial composting, a greenhouse, anaerobic digester, and … Continue Reading

Today’s second panel focuses on land, water, and energy systems. The first speaker, Honorary Consul Lars Henriksson, describes how Sweden has managed to increase its GDP while reducing carbon emissions. Sweden is consistently rated highly on sustainability indices, with most recently Stockholm receiving the 2010 European Green Capital award. One of the reasons Sweden has been so successful is because of integrated resource management by regulatory and financial incentives as well as technological support. Some examples are taxing landfills and banning recycleables and biomass from landfills to encourage reuse and incineration for district heating. Sweden also discourages car use by imposing congestion fees and providing attractive multimodal transportation. In 2004, Sweden built Hammerby Sjostad as part of an Olympics bid just outside of Stockholm. The community of 25,000 people achieved 75 percent energy improvements by changing building practices alone. Most … Continue Reading