Conversion of human waste into biochar using pyrolysis at a community-scale facility in Kenya To design, build, and test a self-contained system that can pyrolyze (decompose organic material at high temperatures without oxygen) human solid waste into a type of biological charcoal (biochar) that captures and stores carbon. Climate Foundation,
In the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC), researchers from all over the world are challenged to come up with a radical new technology for treating human waste, and eventually making it accessible for the whole world. Just treatment is not enough though; the solution has to be affordable, and has to produce valuable elements from the waste - either energy, clean water, nutrients, or all. Phase 1 of the RTTC was aimed at proving the feasibility of the technology; in August 2012, a working prototype of the biochar reactor was demonstrated at the Reinvent the Toilet Fair at the headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Together with Sanergy in Nairobi, the technology will be developed further to make it ready to process human waste on a large scale in Kenya.
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Product design and engineeringGlobalResource recovery Faecal sludge treatment processesFundamental research and engineeringOtherBill & Melinda Gates FoundationUrban (entire city)Energy: fuel (liquid or solid)Local NGO
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IndiaKenya
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