Tag: waste

michaelbergen000000000009Leave a comment

Sustainably Problem: Waste

Technology Solution: Wasteloop – Fully electric waste management system.

  • The sanitation trucks work silently and they don’t empty waste directly on site. By doing this, it reduces the energy consumed by 80%
  • By making the switch to this one stop shop for disposal, it would produce 99 % CO2 emission less emissions
  • The major plus is it can be profitable, it has low operation cost.

Stakeholders

  • Public
  • Waste management companies
  • Energy Companies
  • Environmentally Friendly
  • Government

Implementation/Deployment

With the help of the government funding and a private public partnership, there could be select locations in the state for each county with these waste bins available. After Department of Sanitation unloads the waste in one location and after it is filled a sensors would send a message for it to be delivered to the waste loop fully electric waste management system.

Sources

https://solarimpulse.com/efficient-solutions/wasteloop

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Returning “Oil” to the Earth

Peter Clarence Schott1 Comment
Charm Industrial’s “bio-oil” — a carbon-rich oil made from almond shells and other types of biomass

Peter Schott // pcs2144
(1) Sustainability Problem: Waste // Carbon
In order to curb the effects of climate change, it is essential to phase out fossil fuel use and decarbonize the economy more broadly. Carbon removal is one solution.

(2) Charm Industrial represents a significant change to reduce the cost from $600 to $50/ton CO2e while elimination 10%+ of global CO2e in the process.

  • Charm partners with farmers (who grow a lot of crops) that generate biomass waste, converting the left over biomass into “bio-oil”, drilling a well, and pumping the bio-oil underground; this achieves the removal of carbon from the atmosphere “permanently, reliably and potentially on a grand scale”
  • This is achieved through a process called “pyrolysis,” (read: organic chemistry) producing hydrogen (that can be used in refineries or to make fertilizer/power vehicles) and “bio-oil”
  • The modular Pyrolyzer can be put on the edge of the farm, reducing the need to transport the biomass outside of a local area; this technology has gained attention from Stripe and Microsoft

Source: Meet the startup producing oil to fight climate change, Grist

(3) Stakeholders

  • Fortune 500 companies and beyond: who are seeking to reduce their environmental impacts as they attempt to offset their corporate emissions through carbon removal opportunities. Stripe and Microsoft to name a few.
  • Nonprofits and academic institutions: to provide a third party assessment of the carbon removal projects (e.g, Carbonplan) and potential analysis around the broader carbon removal market.
  • Lobbyists/Government: to ensure that Charm Industrial can receive federal tax credits, as only CO2 gas is recognized as a CO2e carbon removal technique.

(4) Design/Implementation/Next Steps:

  • Raise capital from existing investors to scale manufacturing capabilities of the Pyrolyzer machine
  • Manufacture one machine and dedicate it to launching a pilot on a large-scale farm to collect data and conduct research; use biomass to create bio-oil and measure components on transporation, equipment cost, potential revenue, etc. to forecast the scale-up of the business
  • Meet with scientists and clients to share results of the pilot program to collect feedback, with the goal of creating a pitchbook for future investors

The iThrone that does not consume water or energy

Marina (mm5860)1 Comment

What is the problem being addressed?

Globally, 2.6Bn people lack access to safe, dignified sanitation. Government under-investment into infrastructure, increasing urbanization and crisis-related displacement have resulted in large populations lacking access to safe, proper sanitation. Providing non-sewered communities scalable improved sanitation will incur huge economic costs (for piping, collections, treatment) and unsustainable stresses on local water resources. In non-sewered communities, people must resort to unsafe sanitation options like open defecation and shared pit latrines.

Category: Water, Energy, Health.

The innovative solution:

Image: change:WATER, http://www.change-water.com/solution

change:WATER Labs has developed a disruptive evaporative toilet to clean up off-grid and non-sewered communities by shrinking daily sewage volumes 85-99% onsite—its portable, low-cost and stand-alone toilets leverage super-water-absorbent polymers to passively vaporize liquid sewage, thus enabling complete sanitary containment, waterless and off-grid operability, and 10x reduced collections logistics.

No water.

No power.

No plumbing.

Source: “This Toilet Vaporizes Poop To Solve Sanitation Problems”, Fast Company, https://www.fastcompany.com/40550779/this-toilet-vaporizes-poop-to-solve-sanitation-problems

Stakeholders involved & next steps

This technology is highly impactful for underdeveloped societies. 40% of the world lacks access to safe sanitation, and this impacts every aspect of their lives and their future prospects. Poor sanitation traps them in poverty and hopelessness. The lack of a dignified toilet in fact perpetuates poverty and vulnerability.

Main responsibles to implement this technology should be ONGs and private households (if economic resources are available).

The Unsustainable Sustainable Tech

gzm211 Comment

Around 2017 to 2019, bike sharing was a big thing in tech in China. Bikes were everywhere on the street in major cities, often invading limited walkways (picture on the left, taken in November 2017 in Shanghai). Then pictures of bike graveyards began to circulate (picture on the right). 

What happened?

One failed startup, Ofo, illustrates the problem well (yellow bikes in the pictures). Sharing bikes is a great idea – reduce CO2 emission while providing convenience to users, especially when such a seemingly old-tech idea is armed with smart apps. Users loved it. Investors loved it, pumping $2.2B into the company, and Ofo went through an explosive growth. As we entered 2010s, the old silicon valley mantra that startups should focus on a narrow segment in its initial development (‘Crossing the Chasm’ by Geoffrey Moore) was thrown out of the window in favor of full throttle growth to secure one’s place by building ‘moats’ around the business. Within a few short years, Ofo not only expanded to major cities in China, but also to cities in other countries. This rapid growth stretched Ofo’s management capacity. After all, the bikes were owned by Ofo and Ofo had to maintain them. They could not. Other companies mimicked Ofo and entered the chase. This eventually led to bike graveyards shown in the picture, and Ofo went bankrupt and the industry had to restructure. A great idea turned into tremendous waste of money and resources and pollution of the environment. 

Such excess is by no means a Chinese phenomenon alone. Remember WeWork?

What are the lessons learned from this? 

  • Capital alone does not guarantee success: maybe if the investors of companies like Ofo had taken a walk along streets saturated with bikes or had had some sustainability sensitivity, they might have been more conscious of the consequence of their decisions? 
  • Human capacity is limited: humans are limited in how much we can do during a given time. Scaling a startup is not easy, especially when one has to deal with physical issues. We ignore such limitations at our own peril. 
  • Users tend not to take care of goods that are cheap and easy to get/dispose of: do I need to say more?
  • Regulation is needed when it comes to public space: In this case, regulation (rules on parking) would be a constraint to startups but good for their long term growth. Now cities across China have added rules governing this. 
  • A good environment for success is about aligning different parties’ incentives: it is about capital’s incentive to invest not over-invest, startups’ incentive to grow sustainably, users’ incentive to use not abuse the goods and services, and governments’ incentive to foster growth yet balance other citizens’ interests… yes, it is complicated.

https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/The-rise-and-fall-of-Chinese-bike-sharing-startups.html

New 3D Printed Tire From Biodegradable Materials

Mah S.Leave a comment

 

Capture d’écran 2017-11-25 à 12.59.13.png

Area : Waste, Energy

Description:

75% of tires are made of petroleum (needed for the production of the rubber used). At the end of the products’ life most of them end up in landfills .

Michelin, thanks to a new concept, 3D printed a new kind of tire. The tires are made out of molasse (sugar paste), then turned into ethanol which is used to produce rubber replacing petroleum. Since the tire is only made of natural sources (molasse, bamboo,…), the tire is fully biodegradable.  Although, thanks to the new design of the tires, their useful life should be greatly extended. Indeed, instead of changing tires when a problem arises, the new Vision tire can be modified with a 3D printer.

Sources:

https://www.michelin.com/eng/media-room/press-and-news/michelin-news/Innovation/MICHELIN-Visionary-Concept

https://www.fastcompany.com/40449277/this-new-tire-has-no-air-and-is-3d-printed-from-biodegradable-materials

Stakeholders: Car manufacturers / City officials / Car owners

Implementation:

  • Michelin needs to research markets to find countries/ citis which are early adopters of new technologies;
  • They need to contact the government of this country/city to run some test in the city and have approval of their technology being used
  • They need to find car manufacturers that are also early adopters to pilot their technology

Other article comment: The tiles are also gathering data that can be used for better understanding pedestrians habits and crowd flows . This type of information is useful to commerces but also for cities.

https://makeasmartcity.com/2017/11/09/energy-generating-walkway-no-footstep-wasted/

 

 

Turn Recycled Plastic into 3D Printing Filament

alexandravamanuLeave a comment

Sustainable Problem: Waste

As we’ve established, humans produce a lot of trash – apparently of the more than 300m tons of plastic produced globally every year, one refuse truck’s worth ends up in our waters, landfills and streets every minute.

Technology:

  • Reflow converts recyclable plastic into 3D printing filament using open source technology.
  • Reflow filament is made from recycled PET bottles collected in developing regions, and revenues from the filament go back to the waste collectors who gather these bottles, which the company claims can increase their income by up to 20 times.
  • The market for 3D printing filament – the majority of which is made from virgin plastic – is growing rapidly. A recent report predicted the 3D printing materials market will grow by nearly 266% in the next five years.
  • 3D printing seems to be offering the developing world is employment – there are an estimated 15 million people globally who currently make their living from waste picking

Stakeholders:

  • Reflow
  • Waste Collection Companies
  • Artists
  • Designers
  • Various Printing Companies

Deployment/Implementation:

  • set up a production facility at a local rubbish dump, where waste pickers convert high-density polyethylene (HPDE) – mostly used for plastic bottles – into 3D printing filament to eventually be sold to 3D printing companies.
  • Marketing campaign
  • Introduce into different societies at different levels due to so many variations

Different uses of recycled plastics in 3D Printing!

3D Plastics 3

Joshua Harker is an American artist and pioneer in 3D printed art and sculpture whose work has appeared in countless galleries, collections, publications and platforms worldwide, making him perhaps the most acclaimed 3D artist alive today. His work pushes the limits of form and dimensions to share his unique vision. He incorporates digital tools, software, technology as well as traditional mediums into his work to create art that is fresh, cutting edge and timeless.

3D Plastics 4

 

Deze Straver is an Amsterdam based graphic designer who does not enjoy writing about himself but does love to work with digital imagery, visual language, shapes and movement. His recent works explores the human form in eerie shape shifting fashion.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jan/01/sustainable-technology-2016-climate-change-environment

https://www.ptonline.com/blog/post/startup-turns-recycled-plastic-into-3d-printing-filament-

http://reflowfilament.com/gallery.html

Comments to greentechsmartcities: It is fascinating what some people can do with garbage and plastic waste. The art collective Luzinterruptus has a history of tackling political and social issues in Europe. The “Labyrinth of Plastic Waste” is but one example. “We were looking to demonstrate, in a poetic manner, the amount of plastic waste that is consumed daily,” Luzinterruptus explained in a statement. “In addition to focusing attention on the big business of bottling water, which leads to very serious problems in developing countries, whose citizens have watched as their aquifers have been privatized with impunity for the exclusive enrichment of large business owners and ruling classes without scruples.”

https://vimeo.com/100256751

UNI:  AV2698

 

Plastic Reuse for Practical Use

Dominic Bell5 Comments

1) Waste & Civic Engagement: 

Plastics and other waste are discarded in developed countries where every convenient because little value is seen in them after they have served their purpose. This causes pollution of the oceans, streets filled with waste, and little social change. The Hamilton Perkins Collection has come up with a way to work with developing countries to convert plastic waste around the world into valuable products by adding value.

2) Technology:

  • Canvas is made out of recycled bottles and recycled vinyl billboards to produce bags
  • The plastics are recovered from Haiti by community members in developing countries and recycling centers clean and crush the plastic
  • The business estimates that compared to normal duffel bags, 15,000 pounds of CO2 is saved in emissions

3) Stakeholders:

  • Residents in developing countries
  • Retail Businesses
  • Customers valuing causes

4) Deployment: 

  • Generate pipelines for gathering plastics
  • Partner with other developing countries to increase scale of production
  • Partner with store front businesses to diversify the market

5) Student Post:

“The roads are made from plastic soda bottles which allows the DOT in Texas so save almost $700,000 in traditional repair. With this model they found a way to save money in repairs and also take plastics out of landfills.”

https://makeasmartcity.com/2017/11/16/drb2171-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1415

Source:

https://www.fastcompany.com/3061905/these-pretty-travel-bags-are-made-from-recycled-plastic-bottles-and-billboards

Dominic Bell (dlb2189)

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better… HomeBioGas 2.0

omriklag3 Comments

The Problem

Sustainability issue – waste, food waste.

We generate about 1.3B tons of food waste annually, almost all of which ends up in landfills where it decomposes and release methane. Nonetheless, this “waste” contains a lot of nutrients that can be used as fertilizers and the released methane can be captured and used. Many municipalities are trying to implement composting programs but their reach is currently quite limited and the vast majority of the population still does not have access to an institutionalized compost program… so what can you do??

The solution

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An easy to use home compost system!

  • HomeBioGas is an Israeli company specializes in residential, outdoors, low maintenance, compost systems.
  • HomeBioGas 2.0 is based on two holding tanks, one for the waste digestion, which is filled with water containing bacteria, and one for the gas generated.
  • The system also produces liquid fertilizer as a by product of the process.
  • The system can take up to 6 liters of food waste a day, and (at full capacity) generate enough gas daily to power a traditional stove for up to 3 hours.
  • The system is very heat sensitive and does not function properly when the surrounding temperature falls under 20˚ (68F) for a long period of time.

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Stakeholders

Two key stakeholders are:

  • Families and individuals that use gas powered equipment and live in areas where the climate allows for outdoor, unheated composting.
  • Off-grid Communities in developing countries

Implementation

Step 1 – Successfully fund their Kickstarter campaign.

Step 2 – Continue to develop the technology so that it can work in a wide variety of climates, especially in environments that have cold winter such as New York.

Step 3 – Start a new campaign for HomeBioGas 3.0 (when it will become available) while simultaneously reaching out to relevant communities and stakeholders for pilot studies and contracts.

Links

Company website – Link

HomeBioGas 2.0 kickstarter page – Link

Another home composting solution – Link

 

Comment on  Smart Urban Growth Tackles Mobility and Electricity Distribution Concurrently:

“Intersting post!
I would add a note about Better Place, as someone who lived 10 minutes form their HQ and witnessed their almost-rise and fall: Better Place’s plan was to first set up a charging infrastructure throughout Israel and only once they reached a sufficient quantity and reach of charging stations, then they would begin to really push their family-oriented EV model. They encountered a series of setbacks and constant delays, yet decided to release their EV when there is no adequate infrastructure to support it, which at the end (in my opinion) led to their failure.
Also, I visited their HQ and showroom about a two years before they ceased operations and at the time they were still not on schedule for the deployment (and perhaps even large scale feasibility) of the battery changing stations.”

LEAF PLATES

alexandravamanu1 Comment

leaf6leaf3

Sustainable Problem: Waste

According to Time magazine, Americans throw away an estimated trillion disposable plates and utensils per year.

Technology:

  • Brand Name: Leaf Republic
  • Focus on food packaging and one-way dishes
  • Claim: outdoor tableware has to be fully renewable and fully biodegradable.
  • Packaging products consist of a lid made from bioplastic or recycled plastic and a three-layer natural bowl made of
    • Leaves
    • water-proof leaf-made paper
    • Leaves

Plates1

  • No synthetic additives, no coloring, no glue – and no tree has been cut! Additionally, the bowl is biodegradable in only 28 days.
  • These actions lead to building up a sustainable, social, gainful company

Stakeholder:

  • Leaf Republic
  • Their Partners such as: Vivas.bio, Bird&Bird, Dachser, Infiana, Makerspace, LMU, Illig, Stoeger, Huber+Suhner, Steuerkanzlei Kisslinger-Popp
  • Institutions or Companies to use the products
  • Community

Deployment/Implementation

  • Fund the project to obtain more pressing machinery
  • Find local sources needed for leaves
  • Obtain contracts with universities and/or companies
  • Get community involved, maybe gather the leaves
  • Marketing Campaign

Sources:

http://leaf-republic.com/
http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1706699_1707550_1846340,00.html

Comments to Off grid solar powered water device – Zero Mass Water by JV2610

  • A unit with one solar panel, the company says, can produce two to five liters of liquid a day, which is stored in a 30-liter reservoir that adds calcium and magnesium for health and taste. This seems very energy efficient and seems to be able to store a pretty good amount. The addition of electrolytes is even more interesting and beneficial for health.

UNI:  AV2698

Longer Lasting Produce!

lcblake043 Comments

FruitBrite

  1. Sustainability Issue (Waste):

Over 30% of produce harvested is never consumed and every year, almost $30 billion worth, or 25 billion pounds, of fruits and vegetables are wasted. This happens even though there are about 42 million people who don’t have enough to eat in just the U.S. alone. Wasted produce also means that all the time, energy, money, and water put into cultivating it is also wasted. However, it is hard to avoid this problem because there are so many steps between the growth and consumption of produce.

Berrybrite

  1. Summary of Technology (Hazel Technologies):
  • FruitBrite and BerryBrite are essentially biodegradable and non-toxic packaging inserts that fit into fruit containers and emit ingredients to keep produce from spoiling without having to spray on any additional chemicals
  • The inserts allow the produce to last longer, which also means that the produce can have a greater range of area where they can be transported to and sold in before spoiling
  • FruitBrite is a time-release sachet that contains an ethylene blocker (ethylene is the gas given off by some fruits that speed up the ripening process)
  • FruitBrite can extend produce’s lifespan by 2-3 weeks and has been tested on various produces including apples, asparagus, broccoli, cherries, tomatoes, etc.
  • BerryBrite delivers controlled dose of a blend of natural essential oils that inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and molds in berries
  • BerryBrite extends the shelf life of berries by up to 3x, reduces disease and rot by up to 90%, and improves post-harvest firmness by up to 2x

Sources:

 

  1. Stakeholders 
  •  Farmers
  • Supermarkets
  • Produce transportation companies
  • End consumers

 

  1. Next Steps
  • Work with large farms to incorporate FruitBrite and BerryBrite into their packaging product that can be used to store fruit and produce after picking
  • After driving adoption by farmers, introduce to supermarkets to be used for backroom storage
  • Once adopted by both farmers and supermarkets, introduce to transport companies as a way to provide farm to store consistency in packaging and storage

 

UNI – LC3291
Fall 2017 – Week 4