ARTI | Solar C³ITIES

Ciudad de Leon, Mexico - 2014

Dr. Culhane and Rotoplas water engineer Yuliana Banda Zavala demonstrate the workings of the Solar CITIES modified ARTI built by Rotoplas Engineers from observations of Solar CITIES youtube videos

Rotoplas engineers pleasantly surprised Culhane during his spring 2014 Mexico visit by showing him a Solar CITIES style modified ARTI digester (with the "microbial motels" we put in to increase surface area in Kenya with the Maasai in 2010) that they built in anticipation of his visit for testing as the company explores its own line of rotomolded home biogas systems (Rotoplas is already the top producer of home scale "biodigestores" in central and south America for treating toilet wastes, though

Istanbul Turkey, Koc University 2014

Building a Solar CITIES IBC/ARTI hybrid at Koc University in Turkey

Our second small scale biogas build in Turkey following the one I did the previous year at the same time with Yaşat Hacıbaloğlu -- the network of biogas investigating youth grows ever stronger and brighter -- things have been stalled here in the DIY realm because youtube is banned by the government so it isn't easy to access open source video instruction, but there is no substitute for face-to-face workshops anyway, so I am privileged to have been able to share a solution with the students of Koc University's Environmental Engineering Club this afternoon/evening.

Istanbul, Turkey, 2013

The Istanbul street market biogas team and Turkey's first ARTI system which we built with Yaşat Hacıbaloğlu.

On April 27, 2013, at the end of my presentation tour for Earth Week, an enthusiastic student who had attended one of my talks, Yaşat Hacıbaloğlu, asked if he could learn how to build a home biodigester. Since I had a "day off" where Bosch/National Geographic/Fox was going to treat me to a day of sightseeing I decide instead to ask the driver if he could take me and Yasat into the local market to buy supplies and build a Solar CITIES style ARTI biogas system.

US Embassy, Erbil, Kurdistan,Iraq 2013

Bryant, Culhane, Maw'eid and Dave put Noel Rassam's ashes in the biodigester at the US Consulate in Kurdistan

After the midnight build of a Solar CITIES modified ARTI biodigester in Erbil, Kurdistan tonight, during my last night in Iraq with new friends Maw'eid and Bryant and Dave (construction, security and IT professionals) , we said prayers in Arabic and English and each put some of my Iraqi grandfather's ashes in the tank so that his spirit may live on with the humblest yet most impactful of God's creation, the Archaea, helping guide their transformations toward the renewal of this proud and ancient civilization.

(Note the lat lon coordinates are not yet correct for this build)

US Embassy, Baghdad Iraq 2013

Culhane on the roof of the new US Embassy in Baghdad exploring their vacuum tube solar hot water system.

Frank Finver and Victoria Reppert and a group of folks from the UN, including Chief Humanitarian Officer Karin Mayer, built this ARTI in the garden at the Embassy residences. It was used for a workshop and to demonstrate the gas and fertilizer and later dissassembled and delivered as a gift to Dr. Mukdad Al Khateeb at the Baghdad University of Technology.

Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Baghdad - 2013

Building a Solar CITIES variant on the ARTI India style digester at the Ministry in Iraq

A bright spot in the ongoing conflict in Iraq was our visit in April of 2013 to the Iraq Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). After we built a family-sized biodigester on the grounds with their engineers, they surprised us by unveiling a host of great technologies that they are working with: solar vacuum tube-assisted air conditioning, super bright LED street lights, Iraqi-manufactured photovoltaic panels, a different type of biogas system to the ones we had built and purchased.

United Nations Mission Baghdad Iraq 2013

http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/24/iraqs-green-zone-gets-greener-with-biogas-and-other-clean-energy-solutions/

In the spring of 2013 Thomas Taha Rassam Culhane returned to his mother's native homeland of Iraq to conduct biogas trainings and workshops on sustainability in Baghdad and Erbil.

Washington Math Science Technology School (WMST), Washington DC 2011

Mostafa, and the crew with their biodigester

The Washington Math Science Technology School Biodigester was built by Solar CITIES co-founder Mostafa Darsh Hussein, visiting DC on an exchange program after Culhane did a biogas workshop at the school.

Sacred Heart Hospital Abeokuta Nigeria 2011

Dr. Charisma Acey and Dr. T.H. Culhane in front of a completed digester at the Sacred Heart Hospital after the workshop

Bells School Nigeria 2011

At the end of the summer of 2011, Culhane was joined by Ohio State University Urban Planning Professor Charisma Acey and Nigerian-German friend Paul Chido Iwunna on a trip to Nigeria, hosted by former President Obasanjo, to spread the "gospel of biogas" in Abeokuta. We built at His Excellency's home, at the Bell's School for Girls, at the Sacred Heart Hospital and at the home of a University Professor, Moses Oyatogun.