My plan for the most efficient and comprehensive alleviation of global strife and pollution involves the simple use of a regular, yet complex biological process – waste remediation. While this process is quite complex, fortunately much of its complexity is managed by the plant, animal, protist and bacterial agents involved. The human use of the bio-remediation process can be rather simple. In this application I detail a plan for generating crucial resources via the organic, living digestion of human and animal waste. The biological digestion of human and animal waste can, if properly designed, yield (a) clean water for consumption, irrigation and sanitation, and (b) clean energy. Communities around the world can generate these two incalculably important resources locally, all while mitigating the excessive and dangerous pollution that untreated sewage waste as well as its conventional treatment, create.

My plan will address several negative issues facing today's societies. Many of these problems stem from root problems of resource quantity, distribution and quality. Water, for example, is absolutely essential for biological functioning, and clean drinking water, specifically, is crucial for an individual or animal to live healthfully. In fact, the field of epidemiology owes its inception to the realization that drinking water supplies contaminated by sewage waste brought deadly disease. According to the World Health Organization, as of 2002, almost a fifth of the world's population lacked access to “improved water,” and over two-fifths lacked access to improved sanitation. Sustainably improving the water supply quality for many of these underprivileged communities has proven very difficult, considering the unequal distribution of water sources and the resources to preserve them. Populations swelling in water-stressed areas, and water use swelling in highly developed areas will only exacerbate the “shortage” of clean water. Universally, every community produces its most local source of water every day in the form of sewage waste.

Energy production looms as another enormous problem, characterized by massive inequities in the distribution of electricity, fuel, and the health-related consequences of their conventional production. As with potable water, consumption of energy is surging while the discovery of non-renewable energy sources is not. America alone consumes almost 150 billion gallons of petroleum fuel a year, and the demand for electricity is accelerating in most parts of the world. The natural processes mentioned above that yield clean water can in fact also yield sustainable methods of fuel and electricity generation, while simultaneously decreasing aquatic and atmospheric pollution.

This holistic approach to managing global resources resonates with an important feature of ecosystems. No single element or individual ever plays only a single role in an ecosystem. Similarly, our solutions to global resource problems should not singularly address them compartmentally, but efficiently manage them all as a whole. In this way a simple solution to multiple problems can function as a trimtab for our resources.

The heart of my plan involves a basic aquatic sewage treatment facility similar to the “living machine” featured in Images 1, 2, and 3. This facility is part of Penn State's Center for Sustainability, where I have volunteered and worked for the past 3 years. I resided on this property for six months, using the on-site “living machine” for my waste treatment. With a large enough facility and a steady flow of waste (from a community of individuals and animals), such a system can produce potable water. Such a system will also produce large quantities of plant biomass. Key biological components of this system are appropriate species of algae and other plants deliberately chosen for a particular area, climate, and the intended final energy product. The University of Hawaii holds a library of many algae species developed through the Department of Energy's Aquatic Species Program. Each species has a different chemical and oil profile, making some more suitable for biodiesel production, and others more suitable for hydrogen capture. Key structural components of the system are (a) a set of anaerobic digestion chambers that could be equipped for methane capture, (b) a set of aerobic chambers featuring the bulk of the plant biomass, (c) a greenhouse structure capable of insulating the plants and lighting the system, if necessary.

Economic viability of this system is assured with the production of usable and marketable resources: water, energy and fuel. These resources can be harvested on-site, or transported to a nearby facility that uses the raw materials provided by the waste-water treatment facility (i.e. the methane, hydrogen, or biomass). Decentralized and “off-the-grid” water and energy production will revolutionize the resource inequities found in our world. Penn State’s Center for Sustainability will pioneer the effort to enact this complete water and energy harvesting waste-treatment facility. Once it is demonstrated locally, Penn State’s renowned Outreach efforts will begin to spread the technology to Pennsylvania and the rest of the world.

This system is reproducible because it can adapt to any location or condition, and produce energy in as sophisticated a way as its community can manage (hydrogen capture, methane capture, biodiesel generation, or cellulosic ethanol generation). Many living machines exist all over the world, and in fact Nature herself has been harvesting waste for conversion back into energy since the beginning of life on Earth. This is a robust process for simultaneously solving many resource problems and improving resource solutions.

Back to my TreeHugger Application.