Our highly sectorial science and society leads to a lack of synergistic solutions. On top of that key players are often part of their own peer’s mainstream thinking and/or miss-defining importance of issues with media coverage. We lost our footing, forgot about our 100% dependency on living soil. Not only food production but water renewal, avoidance of flooding/drought, regional climate, green areas and forests, local economy depends on soil. Humus rich soil makes water, sanitation can make soil.
Bio-Waste can be an ideal feeding for soil. Energy production can destroy or create soil. So called “Bio”-Energy is the biggest threat for food security, water/soil health and a supportive regional climate but big business. The very low rate of net energy that can easily be negative if soil depletion is calculated produces energy for a few who do not care for the death toll. Direct solar energy is offering a million fold of what we need and does help to feed people, too.
Utilization of wood gas can produce power, heat/cooling and charcoal for long lasting humus at the same time from local woody waste. Wood gas stoves offer great cooking and the charcoal for the remaining bio-waste and excreta. This can be a pathway for the integration of Sanitation, Bio-Waste-Management, local Energy production and Agriculture. Terra Preta Sanitation offers a clear pathway towards highly cost efficient solutions from low cost to luxury solutions. Lactic acid fermentation allows easy low water consuming collection and efficient sanitization of excreta.
Composting with clean charcoal can mimic the probably most sustainable society that lived on earth in large numbers for thousands of years: the Indio’s of the Amazon. All they left 500 years back is beautiful ceramics and huge areas of the most fertile black soil entirely man made mainly for bio waste, excreta and charcoal: Terra Preta.
