Biogas Digesters on Mt. Everest

Engineers are helping to develop a system to convert the 12 tons of poop left on Mt. Everest by climbers each year into useful energy for local residents.  What was previously an environmental problem is well on it's way to becoming a beneficial resource for warming and lighting homes.

Picture by Paul Sober

The difficulty with using the poop directly as an input to a traditional bio-digester is that it's extremely cold there and there is not a lot of carbonaceous bio-waste laying around (because stuff just doesn't grow very well there).  Engineers have designed a system using solar cells and batteries to increase the temperature to an acceptable level and they're working on a system to increase the carbon:nitrogen ratio so that the gas produced will have lower CO2 levels.

Perrennial Grain Crops

The Land Institute is working on a project called the Perennial Agriculture Project, which studies perennial crops (grains) for farmers and agriculture. 

It's exciting stuff because perennial plants don't have to be replanted each year.  The fields aren't torn up every single year, so that the farmer only has to care for the plants and harvest the crop.  This represents a significant reduction in fuel costs.  Also perennials have more extensive root systems and are capable of pulling nutrients from deeper in the soil.  Those deep root systems also increase drought tolerance and general crop stability.

Growing perennials is generally cheaper, which usually means that it has a lower energy cost.  Energy cost is a major factor when considering the environmental impact of some activity vs. the returned benefit.

Bokashi Composting

Bokashi composting is a great way to process biodegradable wastes into rich, healthy compost.  It is really amazing stuff.  Food wastes often contain chemical energy in the form of sugars and carbohydrates that are easy for insects and pathogenic bacterias and yeasts to use for their own nefarious purposes.  By fermenting food wastes with lactic acid bacteria, free energy is converted into lactic acid which prevents pathogenic bacterias, molds and yeasts from growing.

bokashi compost fermenting

Insects and plant seeds are also sterilized in the process, so that the output is rich, sanitary food for the biological processes in healthy soil.  Bokashi compost decomposes rapidly in the soil so that nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, present in the food waste, is made available to the plants as they need it for their growth processes.  The extra bio-matter provided by the food waste also improves water retention and porosity of the soil, which results in healthier, more productive soil.

finished compost

Bokashi at home is simple to do.  The easiest method is to purchase some bokashi bran on the internet or from a local enthusiast or gardening group.  Then you put your food scraps into a bucket and sprinkle the bran on in layers.  It's really that simple.  Keep the bucket sealed and it will be free from bugs and offensive odors.  It smells a little like fermenting cider.  After a few weeks of fermenting, just dig it into the soil and watch your garden flourish.

Bokashi bran is easy to make by spraying some bacteria culture onto some wheat or rice bran and then allowing it to dry.  You can purchase a lactic acid bacteria culture, like the one developed by Dr. Higa Teruo and sold by Teraganix, or make your own by cultivating lactic acid bacteria already present in your environment.

purslane

Learning about the bacterias and yeasts that are present in the environment around me has been an educational experience.  Lactic acid bacteria consume sugars, such as lactose, the sugar found in milk, and they produce lactic acid, which is a natural preservative.  Culinary strains of lactic acid bacteria are used to make yogurt, kefir and many other fermented foods.

I believe that bokashi composting, and industrial processes developed using the principles of bokashi composting are going to make it possible for normal economic and business patterns to repair environmental problems related to environmental imbalances caused by uncontrolled release of greenhouse gasses.

Written by: Paul Sober