Wind is happening too. Drive across the top of the great plains and check out what’s happening in Minnesota, for example. Other places too, including right here in Montana. This is mostly about supplementing mainstream grid power, ultimately replacing fossil fuels. Impressive! Cross the pond and check out Germany…even more impressive!
Water is lagging behind, a bit. Just three years ago an Energy Conference gathering happened in D.C. The effort around Water Resource Recovery had launched earlier, but this gathering gave it legs. Then politics intervened, but still, today concrete and wastewater facilities, the big ones, have changed their name. Now they are WRR systems, and even if it’s only on their letterhead currently, there is conscious and purposeful thought around how to apply this new thinking to water. The result is that some systems are now conserving energy that was being squandered before, there is methane generation, there is some movement towards algae-oil production. It’s a hopeful direction. What about the other water? What about the 27% of the U.S. that is serviced by small lagoon systems? Can they participate in resource recovery? Up til now, the closest WRR strategy small lagoon systems had was to truck sewage from the tail end of primary treatment and spread it over farm fields. This is good, in general, but messy, and the footprint is huge. But this is where Floating Island International steps in. WE OFFER A NEW VISION FOR LAGOON BASED WASTEWATER The Vision Floating Island International and BioHavens are poised to turn small wastewater systems into true Water Resource Recovery facilities. Here’s what we can do: Now, only a fraction of the BioHavens in wastewater settings are platforms for capturing solar energy. But this energy can replace expensive grid energy right there in the facility, saving lots of money in the process! This is a game changer. It means that hundreds of facilities can stay in compliance with new water standards. It even means that those facilities whose only option was to inventory sewage over entire winters now have a much better, less smelly option. The BioHaven system has another remarkable feature. Our design can grow massive volumes of native forage fish. These are the guys that consume mosquito larvae. This represents a huge new window around biological mosquito control. In specific waterway settings, biological control is the only practical means by which to fight mosquitos. Hope for the Future All of this comes together with BioHavens. Communities now have the option to install systems that can pay for themselves, saving taxpayers money. And the byproduct of these systems is water quality. In fact, the forage fish are a marker, because they won’t happen if the water isn’t high quality. Where else does this system apply? Think about the many settings, the growing number of lakes and ponds that are experiencing Harmful Algae Blooms. BioHavens fight HABs. So if you are affected by HABs because of where you live, and play, we can help! Growing fish instead of algae. These truly are hopeful times.
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AuthorBruce Kania ArchivesCategories |