Science Forums 2

[Eclipse Now]

Biochar is just one of many "waste = food" systems thinking that makes me wonder how the industrialists didn't convert the industrial production system into a permaculture industrial ecosystem a long time ago. There are so many levels on which new permaculture systems thinking can be incorporated into industrial design.

If we use separation toilets, as is starting in some new EU member countries, then the urine can easily be converted into fertiliser. Better than that, "Cradle to Cradle" thinking is slowly redesigning ALL industrial products so that not just this life, but the "next incarnation" of the product are considered.

It's summed up in the slogan "Waste = food".

Carpets can be manufactured with non-toxic fibres and dyes, and can be so natural that waste carpet products are actually purchased by farmers (in Germany) to prevent frosts destroying soil health and the carpet biodegrades into the vineyard soils. (I think it was vineyards).

All products are recycled back into either the biological or industrial system. Metals are recycled, new forms of plastic are recycled without any degradation, and the city becomes a living, breathing, sustainable ecosystem. Waste = food. Local renewable power, local food, sustainable local woods, fibres, concretes, etc... it's possible.

So, if we combine urine reclamation with biochar and the "crop and cow" rotation methods described in "The Omnivore's dilemma" then we can really see the potential for a post-oil agricultural and design sector that works.