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How Do Food Scraps Turn Into Renewable Energy?

During a trip in India, Yair Teller, then a curious student and today the co-founder and CSO of Homebiogas, saw a family cooking on gas in a village of people who predominantly cooked over firewood. This was quite shocking.

The family used the biogas their biodigester produced from food waste to cook their food, and the fertilizer it produced to nourish flowers, which they then sold  in the market to create extra source of revenue. They got all of those benefits simply from recycling their cow’s manure in a biodigester.

Fast forward a few years and Yair was joined by Oshik Efrati (CEO) and Erez Lanzer (CFO). The three proceeded to start HomeBiogas the company in 2012, with the main goal of spreading affordable, sustainable and renewable energy to the whole world.

The Association for Sustainability in Business got the chance to speak with Yair about HomeBiogas, off the grid living and the importance of sustainable living.

Q. What is HomeBiogas?

A. Using an anaerobic process, the HomeBiogas 2.0 system takes organic waste (e.g. fruits, veggies, meat, dairy pits, seeds, animal manure etc.) and turns it into cooking gas and liquid fertilizer. This enables you to create renewable energy in your own backyard and close an eco-cycle!

Instead of throwing your food scraps in the garbage, where it will rot in landfills and will emit methane into the atmosphere, you can simply throw your food scraps into HomeBiogas 2.0. The system can accept up to 4KG of organic waste a day, and in return, produces up to 3 hours of cooking gas a day AND up to 12 L of liquid fertilizer a day. With an estimated life span of 10 years, the system is built in a modular way though, so any part can be easily replaced without replacing the entire system.

Inside the HomeBiogas 2.0 digester there is over 1,000 L of water and bacteria that consume the leftovers thrown inside the system. The bacteria break down the leftovers and emit methane, the main component of the biogas that allows the gas to be flammable for cooking.

The HomeBiogas 2.0 system arrives as a DIY (do-it-yourself) kit. You can assemble it in about an hour. To understand exactly what can you put inside the HomeBiogas 2.0 system, click here.

Q. What does it mean to live ‘off the grid?’

A. Living off the grid means being independent when it comes to resources, may it be water supply, electricity, cooking gas or even waste management.

People that choose to live off grid are self-sufficient people that rather use existing and every-day resources to live a more simple or sustainable life.

Because off gridders provide for themselves and their needs, they have a sense of freedom, independence and control over their lives.

Q. What else can you do to live more sustainably? 

A. Having an organic garden is a way of ensuring you take in all the good things that you need, and your food is free of things that can cause you harm (such as the pesticides). From an ecological standpoint- Growing food in your backyard requires much less energy than produce from the supermarket. Why? Produce from the supermarket is packaged with plastics and Styrofoam which cannot be recycled or broken down easily. This packaging is totally unnecessary for a home organic garden.

To get more information on HomeBiogas, browse the Knowledge Center.

Interested in finding out more about innovative sustainable solutions?

Explore the liveability of our metropolitan and regional urban centres at the 2018 Liveable Cities Conference this July.

This year’s conference will focus on sustainable transport solutions, greening and redesign of cities, renewing regional areas, integrating community decisions, government policy, health and wellbeing and strategies for environment implementation.

Register to secure your place here.

Why Australia imports so many veggie seeds (and do we really need to treat them with fungicides?)

Organic farmers have reacted with alarm to a draft review released last week that recommends mandatory fungicide treatment for certain plant seeds imported into Australia, including broccoli, cauliflower, radish and spinach.

Over 19,000 people have signed a change.org petition objecting to the proposal, which is designed to strengthen biosecurity for plants of the brassicaceae family. Opponents say mandatory fungicide treatment could spell the loss of organic accreditation for organic vegetable growers who rely on imported seed.

Why do we need to import seeds?

Australia’s vegetable growers do rely heavily on imported seed. But why?

The answer lies partly in where plant breeding expertise and effort is centred globally. Continuous (and often long-term) efforts in breeding have lead to the development of plant varieties with benefits like improved yield or quality, tolerance to stress and resistance to disease. These varieties have major advantages for growers (provided they are suitable for Australian conditions).

The global vegetable seed market is dominated by a small number of multinational companies. These international companies produce seeds in multiple locations around the world to reduce the risk of running low on popular varieties, and to benefit from the counter seasons of the northern and southern hemispheres.

However, seed grading, testing and treatment (including fungicide coating) is generally centrally coordinated at the company’s key global facility. These facilities are typically in close proximity to major vegetable growing regions, and thus outside Australia.

There are several companies distributing or producing vegetable seed in Australia, however most are owned by foreign parent companies and the breeding is done by them off-shore. In this case, subsidiary groups in Australia import the seed from the parent company, grow a crop for seed, and then may sell locally or return the seed to the parent company for quality control and global sale and distribution.

If seed were grown in Australia only for a domestic market, it would be a very small market without the benefits of an economy of scale. However, there are other benefits of breeding and growing crops for vegetable seed in Australia, including the scope to prioritise breeding efforts in response to local need. University of Sydney-based company Abundant Produce is addressing this gap for some vegetable crops, but not any brassicas as yet.

Can we protect biosecurity and organic farmers at the same time?

To address the dilemma faced by organic brassica growers who rely on imported seed, can the risk of diseases entering Australia be managed in organically acceptable ways?

In their draft review of the risk analysis for import of brassica seeds, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources do clearly state that alternative measures will be considered if the “appropriate level of protection” can be achieved.

These alternatives may include importing seed from areas or production sites that are designated as free of the two pathogens of concern. A further alternative is seeds that have been grown using at least two independent and verified disease control measures (either pre- or post-harvest) as part of a “systems approach” to manage pest risk.

Non-fungicide seed treatments could also be considered. Heat, applied via steam, water or air, electrolysed water, or pulsed electric fields could be used, if they achieve the appropriate level of protection and seed viability is maintained. Organically-approved seed coatings and other treatments may also be an option.

But the efficiency of treatments depends on how the pathogen infects the host and in which part of the seed it is found.

Originally Published by The Conversation, continue reading here.

THE ROLE OF URBAN RESERVES IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABIILITY

THE ROLE OF URBAN RESERVES IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PORTLAND, OREGON METROPOLITAN REGION

By Edward J. Sullivan, Adjunct Professor of Urban Studies and Planning
Portland State University

Oregon has developed a unique comprehensive urban growth strategy.  Rural areas are separated from urban areas by an urban growth boundary (UGB) concentrating most urban uses within the boundary and fostering policies to provide urban levels of facilities and services, as wells as varying use intensities for residential, industrial, employment, recreational and commercial uses.  The UGB encompasses existing and anticipated urban uses over a rolling 20-year period.  Expansion of the UGB requires extensive study and public process and is frequently contested.  Those expansions often center on whether adding urban land might be avoided by requiring more intensive use in the existing UGB.

Planning beyond the 20-year timeframe includes “urban reserves,” i.e., those lands to be given first priority for UGB inclusions beyond the initial 20-year UGB horizon.  Designating urban reserves is controversial, because it allows for future inclusion of lands that are suitable for farm or forest use and would otherwise be assigned to a much lower priority for UGB additions.  This is especially apparent in Washington County, a Portland suburb where intense demand for additional lands for the expanding electronics industry onto excellent adjacent farmland.

The criteria for urban reserves are intentionally loosely drawn to provide policy makers with flexibility in determining both need and the precise lands to be designated for long-range urban use. The end result, however, promotes sustainability by requiring public agencies to consider whether additional urban lands are needed and, if so, where those lands should be located.  It is far easier to justify redevelopment and additional intensity of existing urban lands than to face a lengthy and complex challenge to UGB expansion.  Similarly it is far easier to justify expansion when the public services and facilities are available, when full communities are planned and resource lands are protected.  In either event, public agencies must justify both the need for, and extent of, UGB expansion as opposed to greater intensity of use in existing urban areas.

Sustainability in Business Speaker Opportunity

Sustainability in Business

Sustainability in Business are inviting Presenters or organisations to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words.

Sustainability in Business: The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane.

The Conference will address the need for sustainable business practices, and what this means in today’s ever-changing world.

Included will be an extensive range of topics with keynotes, concurrent sessions, forum presentations, case studies, panel discussions and poster presentations.

Sustainability in Business Speaker opportunity

Presenters or organisations wishing to speak are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words.  All proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. Presentations will be selected that provide a program offering a comprehensive and diverse treatment of issues related to the conference theme.

Speakers can either provide a 30 minute presentation within the following session topic areas:

  • Renewable Energy Systems and Sources: Biofuel, Biomass, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Hydropower, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Wave Energy, Tidal energy, Energy Storage and Wind Power. This can also include energy transformation from renewable energy system to grid.
  • Think Local First: development of the local economy and community, urban agriculture, Buy Local.
  • Innovative Business Opportunities: Incubators, Start Ups, Venture Capital / Entrepreneurs.
  • The Energy Market: Regulators, Wholesale and Supply Chain, Retailers, Consumer Demand, Carbon trading, Emissions.
  • Trends, Policies and Strategies: current and emerging trends, technologies, research, government policies and industry initiatives within the sustainability sector

Or present for 15 minutes within an interactive 90 minute Q&A Forum on the following:

  • Renewables
  • Innovation
  • Opportunities, Markets and Capital

To submit an abstract CLICK HERE. Abstracts close: 27th October 2016.

Sustainability in Business: This conference will bring together leading academics, thought leaders, opinion makers and industry experts to deliberate and discuss sustainability issues confronting Australia. The program will be designed to challenge, inspire, demonstrate and encourage participants while facilitating discussion.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.

To express your interest in the Conference CLICK HERE.

Sustainability is the reason Ikea are selling bikes

Sustainability is the reason ikea are selling bikes

Sustainability is the reason Ikea are selling bikes

Curtin University food and agribusiness marketing professor Peter J Batt said the likes of Nestle, Kelloggs and Heineken were making dramatic changes within the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative.

“Sustainability is becoming mainstream,” Batt told HuffPost Australia.

“Big multinationals are involved in the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative to say to their suppliers ‘I’ll only take your product if you can show me it’s farmed sustainably’.”

Batt said this meant changes to farming methods, supply chains and attitudes to ethical issues.

“There’s a saying that it’s hard to be green when you’re in the red,” Batt said.

“Increasingly businesses are finding ways to be profitable while maintaining what you’d call a social licence.

“It’s about doing the right thing for the next generation, whether it’s John West’s certified sustainable fishing industry or no-till crops in Australia.”

A Pure Profile study of 1000 people found 63 percent of Australians wanted to be more sustainable but half didn’t know where to start. The study also showed 39 percent found sustainability “completely overwhelming”.

University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor Paul Burke told HuffPost Australia the consumer wasn’t necessarily across the finer points of sustainability.

“There has definitely been a growing interest in the sustainability of products in terms of minimising harm to the environment in manufacture, shipping and disposing of the however there’s still a strong disconnect between what consumers say they value and what they actually choose when shopping,” Burke said.

For those wanting to make their home more sustainable, Wilson said the best advice was to start small. Like on your mixer tap.

“Most families have a mixer tap in their kitchen or bathroom and generally, you’ll flip it up when it’s half cold half warm,” Wilson said. To read more click here.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.

To express your interest in the Conference CLICK HERE.