Opening City Hall's Wallets to Innovation

With the staggering amounts of garbage produced by modern lifestyles, waste disposal is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge for communities around the world. Vienna has tackled the trouble of trash with an innovative system, channeling the heat from incineration to warm homes and provide hot water, recovering reusable items from the waste stream and selling them in a special shop, and proactively educating the populace about how to reduce waste.

The burning of coal for fuel is one of the world's largest contributors to CO2 emissions, and continues to worsen the detrimental effects of planetary warming. But while many feel hopeless in light of an administration that denies climate change and the billion-dollar companies that continue full steam ahead with mining and burning coal, a few clever individuals present a simple and straightforward solution: buy up the coal while it's still in the ground, and pay the government to keep it there.

New York is determined to become a national leader in the renewable energy sector, and they are leveraging numerous approaches to help integrate better and more environmentally conscious technologies into the grid. The multi-faceted approach includes updating laws and regulations to be more renewables-friendly, hosting competitions to foster entrepreneurship and creative solutions in the field, piloting new technologies, and creating better incentives for utility companies.

A collaborative effort among the United Nations' District Energy in Cities Initiative, the Malaysian government, and private partners has facilitated planning in Malaysia's rapidly developing southern state of Johor for a "District Energy System": a single heating and cooling network which decreases energy consumption by converting waste heat from large power stations. Because of this intervention, Iskandar is projected to decrease its energy use by almost 40% -- all while saving money on energy costs, recycling heat energy, and contributing to the nation's goals under the international Paris Accord.

Rahr Malting, a brewery in Shakopee, MN, has found a creative way to sustainably address their energy needs. The company partners with the Mdewakanton Sioux Community to use waste barley hulls from the malting factory to generate electricity for their facilities, selling excess power to the public grid while the waste heat sprouts the malt to make beer.

The commercially-based Wind for Prosperity initiative may have devised a solution to meet growing demands for electricity in developing economies, where fossil fuels are expensive, difficult to access, and take a toll on environmental and human health. The venture works to refurbish wind turbines from Europe and re-deploy them in the developing world, providing clean and affordable power where it’s needed most.

Feldheim, Germany, built an entirely self-sufficient, decentralized energy grid with funding from residents, the European Union, and the state. They produce their energy with wind turbines, a solar farm, and agricultural waste.

The Red Lake Nation in Minnesota is building a 240-kilowatt solar array on top of a workforce training center, which will generate about half of the building’s electricity. This project was financed through crowdfunding, where they raised $250,000 from religiously inclined microlenders. The goal: to allow the tribe to have energy sovereignty, create higher-paying jobs, and maintain a healthy environment.

A solar workgroup in Virginia is inviting developers to present information on the best ways to build solar and battery storage projects for the region; a new approach they are taking after previous failures in getting solar projects off the ground. Despite a lack of funding and local developers in the area, solar advocates are hopeful that the passage of a new energy law in the Commonwealth could be an economic incentive for commercial-scale solar projects.

Finding ways to reuse brewery waste can save water treatment plants money. In Havre, Montana, Triple Dog Brewing has entered into a partnership with the town’s wastewater treatment plant, supplying discarded barley to feed the plant’s microbes. The barley replaces commercial bacteria feed, which would have cost the plant thousands of dollars. The town was also able to avoid having to do costly upgrades to its water treatment plant. Other towns are looking to this process for inspiration.