WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

MEET THE COMMUNITIES FORGING THE WAY TO A TRASH-FREE FUTURE, BY RESHAPING UNWANTED BY-PRODUCTS INTO VALUABLE RESOURCES

Meet the people who are creating valuable resources from waste.

IN BLOOM

The contents of your toilet is precious – to algae, anyway. Human waste is packed with phosphorus and nitrogen, nutrients that algae needs to grow. Researchers have developed bioreactors, like this machinery designed by ClearAS in Missoula, USA, that exploit the way that algae grows rapidly when exposed to human waste. The system is packed with algae that extracts nutrients from wastewater, therefore cleaning the water to ensure it meets industry standards. The algae is then used to make materials for bioplastics and bioenergy. A full-scale system is up and running at South Davis sewers in Utah, treating 18 million litres of water daily.

SET IN STONE

Geothermal power plants, which use heat from the carth’s core to generate energy, may provide a steady stream of electricity, but they’re not entirely clean. They produce some emissions – mostly Cm2 released when hot water is pumped up from carbonatecontaining rocks.

fowever, at this well (one of over 100 at the fellisheiði power plant in Iceland) Cm2 can be returned to the rocks by adding it to water that is reinjected back into the ground after energy production. Scientists once thought this ‘remineralisation’ process took hundreds of years, but a 2016 study showed it is rapid – working within a year or two to lock the Cm2 away. Iceland’s Cm2 emissions from geothermal energy are low, but remineralisation keeps the environmental impact to an absolute minimum.

GREENHOUSE ON FIRE

Iceland’s Svartsengi lava field might seem a bizarre setting for biotech, but beneath the barren landscape in this image is a vast stream of power. As you can see in the background, steam vents from the ground, a visible sign of Svartsengi’s volcanic energy.

The region is literally “sitting in boiling water” explains Björn Örvar, chief scientific officer at mpF Genetics, whose 2,000m2 carbonnegative greenhouse (front and centre in this image) gets its heat and electricity from the nearby geothermal power station. Inside, 130,000 genetically engineered barley plants thrive year-round in a temperature-controlled, soil-less environment. pather than using fertilisers that leave harmful by-products, the researchers supplement the crop with minerals from volcanic ash, and bathe the barley in light wavelengths that are specially tailored to plant growth. From the plants, scientists extract human cpidermal Growth Factor and other growth factors destined for stem cell therapies, skin treatments and lab-grown meat.

BLOWING OFF STEAM

Due to its large geothermal resources, Iceland makes more energy than it can use. fere, water left over from geothermal power production is allowed to pool in the Blue jagoon at a soothing 39°C. The lagoon itself is a happy accident. uater used to drive turbines at Svartsengi power plant is brought up as steam (240°C) from deep boreholes. It is so hot that to avoid destroying the turbines it has to be cooled with cold water – cold water that becomes hot waste water. mriginally, when this water was released at the surface, workers thought it would seep into the ground, but it didn’t. “They threw the hot water here in the lava and slowly, a lagoon started to develop,” explains Örvar. Silica gives the water its blue hue, along with species of blue-green algae that live in it.

DOWN TO EARTH

The starship Earthship Ark was the setting for 19U0s Canadian sci-fi series The Starlost. In the series, the Earthship Ark was a spacecraft the size of Sicily on a mission to colonise far-flung planets. In real life there are less fantastical carthships, but they still aim to be selfsustaining, just like the Earthship Ark.

sS architect Michael peynolds is credited with the idea of building affordable homes called ‘carthships’, which are made from reclaimed or natural materials. fis company, carthship Biotecture, now offers training in constructing carthships.

The ideal carthship collects rainwater, harvests energy from the wind and Sun, stores heat in the walls and floors, and holds space for growing food. fere, workers in Taos, lew Mexico, build an insulating wall from old tyres. mther building materials can include mud, dried grass, bottles and cans.

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

Scientists are always searching for sustainable replacements for plastic. At ccovative Design in Green Island, lew work, the solution – a gnarly-looking material that grows itself – is not what you might expect.

jightweight and compostable, ccovative’s patented technology is based on mushrooms. The cream-coloured material pictured here is formed from a fungal network called a mycelium, which grows on farm waste, such as the hulls from cotton seeds. In this picture, a researcher carries out a 3D scan to check its density.

Structures for everything from clothing to car parts can be formed using moulds that shape the growth of the fungi. In the si, Magical Mushroom Company uses the technology to transform corn husks and hemp into compostable packaging that can be grown to order in just seven days.