Solutions journalism is news about how communities and organizations are responding to social and environmental problems. This collection contains solutions stories about how communities around the world are currently utilizing biogas to not only provide for their energy needs but also improve their local economies. One project, in Rwanda uses biogas created from the school's bathrooms to provide energy for cooking students' food, reducing the school's energy bill by two-thirds. Alappuzha, a city in India, responded to the existential threat trash posed to its tourist industry by becoming the cleanest city in India, in part through the use of community recycling and regional biogas generators. Finally, we learn how hog farms in the US are helping Duke University reach its goal of zero emissions, and how University of Notre Dame is using their food scraps to power local homes.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/climate/biogas-curb-deforestation-rwanda.html
Amy Yee
The New York Times
21 September 2018
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Moving from an ineffective approach of using pit toilets, communities in Rwanda are finding success through the implementation of a biogas system. This effort, part of a government-led initiative to reduce deforestation, has spread to much of the country including school and prisons.
https://perspective-daily.de/article/514/a8mqE5Li
Felix Franz
Perspective Daily
25 April 2018
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When garbage threatened the tourism industry in Alappuzha, residents protested enough to spur lasting change. The city is now recognized as the cleanest city in India for its efforts in decentralizing waste management. This consists of a government program to subsidize the cost of biogas plants for families, in addition to 24 composting centers spread throughout the city. Now, residents take ownership of their waste, and the attitude shift has made the city cleaner for everyone.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/04/17/601857456/in-north-carolina-hog-waste-is-becoming-a-streamlined-fuel-source
James Morrison
NPR
17 April 2018
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Swine biogas are making an appearance across North Carolina, a state with more hogs than any other state in the U.S. Turning methane from hog waste into electricity has allowed the state to earn valuable carbon offset credits as they work towards brining emissions to zero.
https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/university-notre-dame-converts-tons-dining-hall-leftovers-energy
Catherine M. Odell
EarthBeat
25 February 2020
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The University of Notre Dame installed three Grind2Energy systems, which aims to reduce the amount of food waste from the campus’ dining halls. The systems process the waste and send it to a local dairy farm where they break down the material to produce biogas that is used to generate electrical power for 1,000 homes each day in Plymouth, Indiana. While not everyone at the university has committed to the sustainability efforts, these systems can be scaled to be used on other college campuses.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/06/16/climate-solutions-manure
Jim Morrison
Adam Glanzman
The Washington Post
16 June 2020
Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words
Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are working with Vanguard Renewables, a food waste energy company, and Dominion Energy, an electric utility company, to capture manure methane gas from cows and convert it into natural gas. They are also adding food waste to the manure from manufacturers and retailers to increase energy output and increase income for farmers. The partnership has expanded to dairy farms in other states who are looking to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
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