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Between Federal, State, and Local Governments »

Sustainable Communities Can Produce Renewable Energy

Why Is This Idea Important?: This is such an important idea because, in this country, we lag behind the rest of the world in seeking ways to better use sludge. We're satisfied to spread it on our farmland and run the risk of contaminating our soil, water, and food. And, worst of all, municipal governments in many parts of the country are left powerless to ban its use on farmlands as a "fertilizer". The EPA's 503 rule presumed that state and local governments would adopt stricter regulations and laws, but states like mine, Pennsylvania, adopted the 503 rule wholesale as part of the state's ACRE law and municipalities that try to write their own tougher ordinances are threatened with lawsuits by the state's attorney general. It's absolutely backwards thinking on the part of the state. The Federal goverment should be working closely with state and municipal governments to make sure municipalities across the country are empowered to manage processes like converting sludge to fuel. Imagine a country where, not only are we using a really renewable energy source efficiently, but where we're generating our own power locally. But the municipalities need the Federal government to step in and declare it a priority.

Among the many benefits of sustainable communities is the ability to create closed eco-systems that can manage resources capable of creating renewable energy. Sweden's EPA-equivalent puts ours to shame. They have developed an extremely comprehensive and thoughtful plan that looks at the environment in a holistic manner. One of the results of that is the way that municipal waste is managed. Each municipality owns and operates its own wastewater treatment facility and they are responsible for what they produce. The sludge that results from the wastewater treatment process is not shipped to other regions of the country; it's used by the municipality to create biofuel, syngas, and other renewable energy sources. Syngas can be used to generate enough energy to power the plants that create it. It can also be used as a component in the production of other biofuels. Homes are heated and powered by poo. Cars run on it. In fact, the government provides subsidies to those who fill up their tanks on the biofuel created from poo.

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Submitted by feridun 2 years ago

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Comments (2)

  1. katember said:

    This is a great idea. At the very least, the EPA needs to take another look at the approved use of "biosolids" as fertilizer. We are poisoning our food supply. There are plenty of scientists who have declared it an unsafe practice because of the chemicals and pathogens that remain even after our waste is processed. Sludge is a toxic stew. People who live near sludged fields are becoming sick and some have died. It is a travesty that the agency that is supposed to protect us and our environment approves the use of sewerage waste on the fields we grow our food in.

    2 years ago
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  2. kdtroxel said:

    Methane from pig waste. I live in Iowa and we could be making all kinds of energy by tapping our animial waste methane gas.

    2 years ago
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