All cities must face the challenges of climate change. Berlin has a pioneering role to play. Here, the city's cleaning department uses waste from the organic waste bin to contribute to greater sustainability. It obtains its "green" fuel, biomethane, in one of the most modern biogas plants in the world.
Biomaterial, which amounted to 70,000 tons this year, is delivered to us by collection vehicles.
First, drums filter out the materials that do not belong in the organic bin, followed by magnets. The natural waste is then crushed to give the bacteria more surface area for fermentation.
We can convert the energy released by the bacteria.
The anaerobic energy generation in the plant takes 21 days. The remaining biomass later serves as fertilizer in agriculture and makes the cycle perfect. The extracted biomethane is fed into the gas network. 160 vehicles of the Berliner Stadtreinigung//(Berlin City Cleaning) are already driving emission-free on this gas, all year round. This makes the capital city a pioneer - city planners from all over the world visit the facility.
Berlin citizens, who feed the organic waste bin, help us save about 9000 tons of CO2 per year on the bottom line. So, we make the air a bit cleaner.
Global cities have to change their way of thinking due invreasing weather extremes. Heavy rainfall, flooding and longer periods of heat are also becoming a challenge. Urban planners are working with the Berlin Rainwater Agency to develop new concepts.
We've got green roofs or green facades here. Rainwater is collected in cisterns, which can be used as process water. Rainwater, for example, can seep away. Here, we have roadside troughs or blind drain systems.
The solution: planted house facades, green house roofs and track beds. Rainwater is absorbed like a sponge. That's why we're talking about Sponge City. When it is hot, the water evaporates and cools, when it rains heavily it simply seeps into the ground.
The term "Sponge City" actually describes it quite well, because we no longer want to drain the rainwater through the sewage system, but want to keep it in the city and manage it. This means evaporating, seeping away, buffering in soil and plants and using the water.
The latest technologies for climate-friendly water management and sustainable waste management will be presented at IFAT 2020 in Munich.
5 сен 2024
