Projects

Groundwork Hudson Biodigester

Our Mercy College trips to the Science Barge over the last two years have built an enduring relationship that led to Solar CITIES donating our signature liquid composting biogas system, field tested at Mercy, to our neighbors at the Groundwork Hudson Ecohome garden. #EnvisajThat!

April 11 2015 marks the inception of Pennsylvania's second Solar CITIES Puxin Biodigester, this one a 6m3 system that will act as the predigester for Keppy Arnoldsen's own unique digester design. A notable lack of nuts and bolts in critical joint areas led to the outer mold wall bursting under the pressure of the truck poured concrete, but the team recovered and repaired the damage with no real harm done.

Solar CITIES and Envisaj Mercy Team members spoke on a  panel   called “Women and Innovative Approaches for Clean Energy Solutions" that took  place on Wednesday, March 11, from 6:15 to 8:15 pm in the conference room of the UN Foundation (801 Second Ave., 9th floor, at E. 43rd Street).  Co-sponsors of the event were UNA-Southern NYS Division’s Energy Project, ARC Finance, and the Public-Private Alliance Foundation.

Biogas presentation at MIT

On April 6th, 2015, Solar CITIES officers T.H. Culhane, Chris Lindstrom and Tim Laugher presented their vision and history with small scale and household biogas systems at MIT to the MIT Waste Alliance Group at a catered event in lecture hall 4-237.  The response of the students and community members there was enthusiastic.  Culhane performed his Biogas song partially live because of audio technical difficulties which actuallly added to the specialness of the event as it was perhaps the first time MIT students received a technical lecture through song...

Video of TH Culhane, Kathy Puffer, and the Solar CITIES vision presented in Miami
 
Envisaj Mercy built the Dominican Republic's first Solar CITIES IBC/ARTI Hybrid biodigester at Batey Relief Alliance

At the end of our service learning trip to the Dominican Republic Envisaj Mercy students and Solar CITIES co-founder T.H. Culhane introduced the IBC/ARTI hybrid system to the Batey Relief Alliance Center for AgroPecuaria.

Envisaj Mercy -- the Mercy College Environmental Sustainability and Justice League -- builds its first Hestia Home Biogas system in the Dominican Republic

 

"La Bomba de Cenovi": The Dominican Republic's first  Hestia Home Biodigester at the home of Tesori Alvarez in San Francisco de Macoris.

"Bode-gas": Mexico's first Urban Biogas systems are installed at the office of the Fundacion Haciendas del Mundo Maya in Merida

By nightfall on Monday, December 29th, 2014, just as the downpour of rain started, we miraculously finished building and commissioning the Yucatan's first urban biogas digester, using our Solar CITIES mod to the ARTI design. On the 31st we modified  another rotoplas tank as a closed digester to take more urban food waste and increase capacity.

"Gassy girl" is America's first 10m3 Puxin biogas system. She was built by the Solar CITIES US team just before Christmas of 2014!

Let freedom ring!  In the land of the Liberty Bell a new bid for independence has been launched with the creation of America's first Puxin 10m3 biogas system at the homestead farm of Jody and Bob Spangler.  Built by our Solar CITIES team with help from Envisaj Mercy students and community members, the successful completion of a biogas system of this size in the winter gives us a chance to evaluate performace throughout the cold months and make the necessary improvements so that this size class of small scale biogas can get off the launchpad in the good 'old US of A.

Culhane biogas presentation on National Geographic Explorer ship

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~ The Biogas Solution Beyond the MDGs ~~Solar Cooking: Real Change for Women post-MDGs ~~The Impact of Solar Energy on Our Future~

Sponsors: Mercy College, Brahma Kumaris, Solar Cookers International

Panelists:

For Brahma Kumaris:

Denise Scotto, Human Rights Lawyer, Founder, Global Legal Strategies

"...for me, the spiritual is an integral part of my life, and it is not just about working to

advance human rights, and the empowerment of women, youth, and other groups.

The Solar CITIES Swaziland team finishing up the biodigester for grandpa Simon's farm.

Simon, the grandfather of Google Science Fair/Scientific American Science in Action prize winner Sakhiwe Songhe, lives on a farm in Swaziland outside Manzini where he has fruit orchards and keeps cattle, geese, and chickens.  It is here that Sakhiwe and Bonkhe are conducting this year's follow up to their hydroponics experiments, showing the farming community that you can acheive at least twice the yield on Swaziland's poor land using compost to build soil.