Robert Haber

One Accord Food Pantry, Inc.

Troy, New York

CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 250

The Project — Phase 1………………………………………………………………………………….. 251

Alcohol Fuel………………………………………………………………………………………. 251

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Fuel — Wood and Cardboard…………. 251

Carbon-Cycle Neutral……………………………………………………………… 251

Procedure…………………………………………………………………………………. 252

Potential Savings……………………………………………………………………… 252

Aquaponics……………………………………………………………………………………….. 252

Fish Produced………………………………………………………………………….. 253

Auto-Feeders……………………………………………………………………………. 253

Roof of the Structure………………………………………………………………. 254

Floor of the Structure………………………………………………………………. 254

Balanced Diet………………………………………………………………………….. 255

Efficient Use of Water…………………………………………………………….. 255

Power Generation…………………………………………………………………….. 255

Potential Yield…………………………………………………………………………. 255

Smaller Family-Sized Unit……………………………………………………….. 256

Bacteria Production…………………………………………………………………. 256

Fish Feed Formulation………………………………………………………………………. 256

Fish Hatchery and Seedling Greenhouse…………………………………………… 257

Hatchery………………………………………………………………………………….. 257

Greenwater System………………………………………………………………….. 258

Seedling Greenhouse……………………………………………………………….. 258

Energy Plantation……………………………………………………………………………… 258

Compost……………………………………………………………………………………………. 259

Processing…………………………………………………………………………………………. 259

Technology Transfer — Website………………………………………………………. 260

The Project — Phase 2………………………………………………………………………………….. 260

Abundance of Biomass……………………………………………………………………. 260

Saving Family Farms………………………………………………………………………… 261

Food Imported into the Northeast……………………………………………………. 261

Reserve Food Supply………………………………………………………………………… 261

Energy Plantation……………………………………………………………………………… 262

Growth of Fish Feed from Plant Sources………………………………………….. 262

Compost-Based Aquaponic Greenhouses………………………………………… 263

Using Vertical Space — Potatoes in Scrap Tires and

Strawberries…………………………………………………………………………….. 263

References…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 264

INTRODUCTION

The evolution of this project took a period of over 20 years. Originating in the pre-Reagan era of what we once thought were high gasoline prices, the concept was to simply make ethanol for electric or transportation use and feed the by­products to pigs and chickens. This still left remaining waste to manage, however. With the change of politics and policies, all federal grants for alcohol research were cancelled. As a result, the concept went unfulfilled for 20 years. But the world is a different place now. Today, the concept has evolved to design and implement a zero-discharge, closed, recirculating, environmentally isolated sys­tem, which produces microelement-enhanced, high-quality protein food using municipal solid waste as a source for nonpetroleum power generation. After having been the 13-year director of a rural food pantry, which met the emergency food needs of over 40,000 rural needy a year (half of whom were children), I enjoyed a unique perspective of the massive amounts of food waste that are discarded daily, especially breads and bakery sweets. As a resource for this project, the huge quantity of useable bakery waste was staggering and dictated the type of fuel to be made. At issue for the project were not only the need to generate heat and electricity, but also the need to have an ingredient base for on­site manufactured fish feed. These three expenses (heat, electric, and feed) com­prise the bulk of all operating expenses associated with the long-term success or failure of the project. Reducing or eliminating these expenses would then enhance the economic viability and potential success of the project. Of critical importance were the ingredients for the feed, since it was the only nutrient input into the system for both fish and plants. Only one type of fuel met all three needs — ethanol — and in particular, ethanol from bakery waste. Additionally, and for the purposes of this project, were the by-products of fermentation (carbon dioxide and DDGS (distillers dried grains and solubles)) and combustion (carbon dioxide and water vapor). The following is an in-depth description of the project.

THE PROJECT — PHASE 1

The first phase of this project is composed of the following subsystems:

1. Alcohol fuel.

2. Solid MSW fuel — wood and cardboard.

3. Aquaponics.

4. Fish feed formulation.

5. Fish hatchery.

6. Energy plantation.

7. Compost.

8. Processing.

9. Technology transfer — website.