BREWING A FUTURE: ZERO EMISSIONS FACTORY BOLSTERS COMMUNITY by Keto Mshigeni, Yes!

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Hi everyone
	here is a great article on using natural systems design , this shows how 
the design principles the problem is the solution. Permaculture uses these 
same principles and they are happening elsewhere too under many names, this 
is so good to see a synergy is taking place all over the world and this is 
one example
				wes.
Brewing a Future

               A southern African brewery spawns a chicken farm, a fish 
farm, a mushroom
                  plantation, a Spirulina plantation, an earthworm farm, 
jobs, and hope

            In natural systems, there is no such thing as waste. Everything 
that’s excreted, exhaled, or
            exhausted from one organism is used by another. Some of the 
most innovative industrial
            designers are following nature’s model and turning waste into 
valuable by-products.

            Waste is particularly unacceptable in poor regions of the 
world, where food, water, and
            energy are scarce. Gunter Pauli, founder of the Zero Emissions 
Research Institute, and
            George Chan, a civil engineer from Mauritius, are working 
primarily in the Third World on
            designing industrial processes that turn waste products into 
valuable inputs for other
            processes – particularly those associated with meeting basic needs.

            As Paul Hawken says, "Waste is too expensive; it’s cheaper to 
do the right thing."

            There’s a new brewery in Namibia in southern Africa that sounds 
too good to be true: "Good
            beer, no chemicals, no pollution, more sales, and more jobs." 
When the chairman of Namibia
            Breweries heard from George Chan, an engineer, that it is 
possible to brew beer and
            generate no waste, he could not believe it. But as a veteran in 
the brewing industry with 60
            years of experience in the German tradition, Werner List was 
willing to listen.

            To his surprise, he found that Chan’s proposals were simple and 
made a lot of sense. The
            Mauritius-born civil engineer was simply applying the 
principles of nature: whatever is waste
            for one is food for someone else.

            Namibia Breweries had decided to construct a sorghum brewery in 
Tsumeb, a five-hour
            drive north of Windhoek, the capital city; the question was, 
could the zero-emissions concept
            be applied in the desert? Funded by the United Nations 
University, George Chan undertook
            a field visit in the summer of 1995 and concluded that it was 
not only feasible, it was
            necessary.

            Less than 18 months later, on January 31, 1997, the first phase 
of the project was
            inaugurated by Namibian President Sam Nujoma.

            The system, engineered and built under the supervision of 
George Chan, is the result of
            extensive research and design over the Internet. Teams of 
scientists from all parts of the
            world worked together in cyberspace to figure out how to make 
best use of the spent grain,
            the alkaline waste water, and the CO2 gases that make up 98 
percent of the waste from the
            brewery. The solutions they developed turn all waste into 
products that are particularly
            valuable in a country that lacks water, food, and cash.

            Traditionally, spent grain left over after the brewing process 
is given away to farmers to use
            as cattle feed. However, cattle cannot digest the fibers, and 
the result is a lot of gas. Cattle
            are the second largest source of methane gas, one of the major 
causes of global warming. But
            this lignin-cellulose component, which makes up 70 percent to 
80 percent of the spent grain,
            can be broken down by mushroom enzymes.

            So, George Chan brought S.T. Chang, professor at the Chinese 
University of Hong Kong, to
            Namibia. This world expert on mushrooms trained the Namibians 
in the cultivation of this
            high-priced product, which the country traditionally imported. 
Each day, the brewery will
            produce four tons of spent grain – enough to grow one ton of 
mushrooms. Professor Chang
            is confident that Namibia will soon be exporting rather than 
importing mushrooms.

            The spent grain is up to 26 percent protein. Wasting protein is 
unacceptable, particularly in
            Africa. So George Chan, in cooperation with Namibia University, 
is initiating the cultivation of
            earthworms, which are to be used as chicken feed. For a country 
that imports all chicken
            feed and 80 percent of its chickens, this is a blessing.

            Not a drop of water ...

            When George Chan learned that Namibia Breweries had secured a 
license to extract ground
            water, but planned to discharge 80 percent of it, he designed a 
system that ensures not a
            single drop will be lost. Normally, the law requires that the 
waste water, which is alkaline,
            undergo an expensive chemical treatment process to make it pH 
neutral. Instead, the alkaline
            water will be used for the cultivation of Spirulina algae, 
which is up to 70 percent protein –
            exactly what is needed locally to fight child malnutrition. 
Instead of wasting protein, the
            brewery becomes a protein factory, and the waste water will 
generate additional revenues
            instead of extra costs.

            The residual water is then channeled to fish ponds where fish 
farming is introduced. As in
            China and Vietnam, multiple species of fish and aquatic plant 
life will mimic a natural
            ecosystem, keeping disease to a minimum and maintaining the 
health of the ponds. By
            producing 15 tons of fish per hectare per year, the brewery 
will also become a fish factory.

            The two most needed ingredients for a fish farm are water and 
feed. Namibia traditionally had
            neither. Now, it has abundant water for fish farming and feed 
provided by the
            earthworm/chicken/mushroom waste streams.

            There is more; the chicken manure goes through a digester and 
produces methane gas. The
            gas, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, is 
used as a fuel, reducing
            demand on wood which, for 80 percent of the Tsumeb population, 
is the main source of
            energy.

            The Namibian brewery will produce a total of 12 products in 
addition to beer. This integrated
            biosystem will produce seven times more food, fuel, and 
fertilizer than a conventional
            operation and four times as many jobs.

            The opening of the brewery in Tsumeb, Namibia, is not just a 
local affair. Representatives
            from around Africa, and Asia, Australia, Europe, and Latin 
America will attend a special
            training course to be held in Windhoek. This course is aimed at 
unleashing entrepreneurship
            and creativity, resulting in more jobs and a better use of 
natural resources.

            Meanwhile, at the UN University, we have expanded our research 
on the application of the
            zero- emissions concept to vegetable oils (palm, coconut and 
olive), construction materials
            (cement, bamboo), paper, fruits, sugar, seaweed, and sisal, 
with a particular emphasis on
            techniques and products that can be used in the developing world.

            The industrial model of the future

            William McDonough, dean of the University of Virginia’s school 
of architecture, has said,
            "Only industry is capable of producing things no one wants."

            Zero emissions is simply the continuation of the drive of 
industry toward higher levels of
            productivity and away from waste. After zero defects (total 
quality), zero accidents (total
            safety), zero inventory (just-in-time), zero emissions means 
that all raw materials will be fully
            used.

            This model could well prove the economists and politicians 
wrong. They believe that in order
            to increase the productivity of a company, you have to reduce 
jobs.

            We are showing that when you focus on the productivity of the 
raw materials, you can
            generate more income, higher returns, and more jobs, while at 
the same time eliminating
            pollution. This is the industrial model of the future. s

            Professor Keto Mshigeni, a respected botanist and pro-vice 
chancellor of the University of
            Namibia, helped introduce the zero-emission concept to 
Namibia.. Email: kmshigeni at unam.na

            Gunter Pauli is founder and director of the Zero Emissions 
Research Institute (ZERI) at the UN
            University in Tokyo. He is the former CEO of Ecover, a Belgian 
company that makes natural
            cleaning products. His most recent book, Breakthroughs: What 
Business Can Offer Society,
            ©1996, is published by Epsilon Press, Surrey, UK.