Zero-waste, Zero-energy, Zero-carbon: trends on the way

The zero-waste, zero-energy and zero-carbon movements are afoot.  While these wishes may be impossible to attain; just moving towards they goals will produce staggering benefits. 

With the constant bombardment of degrading environment articles, people are beginning to respond by opening their pocket books.  Minnesota and Minnesotans are moving aggressively into low energy, lower waste, lower carbon areas.  Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, recently let us know that it has exceeded its goal of selling less electricity and natural gas in Minnesota for the third year in a row.  This is quite a feat with the recent two brutal back-to-back winters.  How was this done?  Xcel has pushed hard on electric bulb replacement, energy audits, and other energy conservation programs.  For example, I recently took advantage of an LED program, buying 21 Cree LED light bulbs that were partially subsidized (about 50%) by Xcel.  The LED bulb price broke my participation price of $5/bulb.  With Xcel’s subsidy, the price was $4.97/bulb.  I will be analyzing the savings through my energy bill.   According to Xcel, the light bulb program has accounted for a quarter of the conservation gains among residential consumers.  I would encourage all of you to start this replacement program.

Another trend is beginning to take form – the use of biodigesters.  Biodigesters are increasingly used in the farming community to generate electricity from manure.  But, according to the StarTribune, St. Louis Park, MN may become the home of a new community development that is powered by organic waste via biodigesters.  I have written in a previous blog about waste – specifically, landfills and leach fields and how they are constructed.  With our water tables sitting below these sites, I believe that we are not doing anywhere near enough to develop alternative solutions (more on this in the next blog).  This community development may be that first giant step in the right direction.  Once the city of St. Louis Park adjusts its ordinances, the project can be entertained.  The developer would start with an anaerobic digester.  An anaerobic digester is a closed-system facility that uses bacteria on biodegradable material to break it down into methane.   The methane would be used as a fuel source to power an engine that generates electricity.  In this example, the patented process would be sealed with an auger that would slowly turn the waste into biogas within 21 days.  The developer would then include geothermal, solar, and wind as additional parts of its zero-energy goal.  And just in case, they would be connected to the grid.  We need to take risks like this to see if these technologies are finally in the take off trajectory.