Biogas Local
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Project Leader(s):
Edward Fenwick (efenwick@umich.edu)
Jennifer Chen (cjenn@umich.edu)
Project Location(s): Ann Arbor
Current Focus: The Biogas Local team’s current focus is designing and building a small scale anaerobic digester using dining hall food waste as a substrate for our anaerobic digestion. We are currently building a smaller scale prototype in a 55 gallon drum, this will be used as a working prototype to help learn from and scale up when designing and building the larger digester.
Mission: The BLUELab Biogas Local team is committed to developing sustainable biodigestion reactors to aid in the campus’s zero waste initiative. Our mission is to work with a variety of disciplines on campus to create a learning laboratory to teach the students, staff, and team members at the University of Michigan about anaerobic biodigestion and zero waste management.
Vision:
Short term: Work with Dr. Zekkos’ laboratory to complete a biodigester to process organic waste. The team will also be helping with campus outreach efforts to teach the university about these processes and to create progress towards the university's goal of zero waste.
Long term: To create and develop more efficient and sustainable small scale reactors to be implemented around campus to further promote the universities zero waste goal.
Team History: Biogas Local was created in the Fall of 2009 when a local brewery approached the Biogas International team about potentially creating a biodigester to process their waste water from the process. This project ended in the middle of the Winter 2010 semester when the team found that the project was not economically feasible for the local breweries. The team then began to work with the Samuel T. Dana building to create a small scale digester to process their compost and to serve as an educational tool for sustainability. The team has moved away from that project at the beginning of Winter 2016 when we were approached by the Zekkos Laboratory in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to help them design a large digester. The goal of this project is to take some waste from the dining halls and use this reactor to educate the campus about the University’s zero waste initiative.
Achievements: Planet Blue Student Innovation fund: $33,000.
Partner Organization: Zekkos Laboratory
Edward Fenwick (efenwick@umich.edu)
Jennifer Chen (cjenn@umich.edu)
Project Location(s): Ann Arbor
Current Focus: The Biogas Local team’s current focus is designing and building a small scale anaerobic digester using dining hall food waste as a substrate for our anaerobic digestion. We are currently building a smaller scale prototype in a 55 gallon drum, this will be used as a working prototype to help learn from and scale up when designing and building the larger digester.
Mission: The BLUELab Biogas Local team is committed to developing sustainable biodigestion reactors to aid in the campus’s zero waste initiative. Our mission is to work with a variety of disciplines on campus to create a learning laboratory to teach the students, staff, and team members at the University of Michigan about anaerobic biodigestion and zero waste management.
Vision:
Short term: Work with Dr. Zekkos’ laboratory to complete a biodigester to process organic waste. The team will also be helping with campus outreach efforts to teach the university about these processes and to create progress towards the university's goal of zero waste.
Long term: To create and develop more efficient and sustainable small scale reactors to be implemented around campus to further promote the universities zero waste goal.
Team History: Biogas Local was created in the Fall of 2009 when a local brewery approached the Biogas International team about potentially creating a biodigester to process their waste water from the process. This project ended in the middle of the Winter 2010 semester when the team found that the project was not economically feasible for the local breweries. The team then began to work with the Samuel T. Dana building to create a small scale digester to process their compost and to serve as an educational tool for sustainability. The team has moved away from that project at the beginning of Winter 2016 when we were approached by the Zekkos Laboratory in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to help them design a large digester. The goal of this project is to take some waste from the dining halls and use this reactor to educate the campus about the University’s zero waste initiative.
Achievements: Planet Blue Student Innovation fund: $33,000.
Partner Organization: Zekkos Laboratory