as an engineer he focuses both on energy balancing models, as well as marine energy in the arctic and heating. this field of work aims to develop energy systems for non-integrated electric grids and their associated oil-based heating systems. this work encompasses rural communities such as the one where bond is from and overall, he joins a broader effort to seek possible energy solutions for alaskans and beyond.

bringing energy to everyone

“rural communities are often disproportionately affected by prices that they don’t have control over such as the price of fuel,” bond says. “the highest price i’ve personally seen was $12.00 gallon for gasoline and small price increases or what most of urban america sees as small price increases those are often exponentially growthed (sic) out to rural communities,” bond says. asides from his current career, bond’s creative outlet and knowledge can also be found on social media like his tiktok account, @thatoneyuk, where he speaks on energy and how it’s used in the arctic.

although his work is mostly contained in data sheets, numbers and equations, his ancestral ties to the land, and the lifelong connection to his indigenous identity make this work important. by looking at different communities along the coast of alaska, he makes the determination of, “…whether or not if (the communities) would be a good candidate for something like wave or tidal energy and determining what size of technology would work for that community.”

bond continues to explain that much of this decision-making entails energy balancing modeling, as he usually receives data, “….from a community looking at their need versus what’s available to them in renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, wave, anything else.” with this amount of responsibility and community trust that is placed into bond’s hands, it’s his unique approach to stem that allows him to navigate this space.

bond describes this method as being a community focused stem approach “…that includes being mindful of listening to whatever community that we’re working with, making sure that we don’t make uninformed assumptions.” much like indigenous communities elsewhere, this is strongly reinforced when cultural sites and traditional gathering areas are brought into the picture.

this also includes being aware of the indigenous knowledge that people in the area have, as this form of expertise represents the ancestral ties to the land. bond puts it this way: “i view it as indigenous people were doing science before it was formalized. what my job is now i’m doing all the formal things. i am finding the efficiency of this turbine given these flow parameters those are even standardized. i have to follow a certain equation.”

with the onset of western knowledge, indigenous people have formalized their own form of knowledge by its ancestral tongue. bond defined it as “word of mouth and by trusting what the elders say to do, because they learned from their elders and that knowledge has been tried and trusted and true over thousands and thousands of generations.”

a community endeavor

the second part of this method also includes the community itself as they belong in the process as well. by adding different but impactful perspectives to each project, people, such as community leaders, can express what they know from their lived experience. bond explains that they, “…know so much more about their community then we do, and they can give us feedback. we know all the science and math, we know things like power factor, and we know things about efficiency, but the ultimate goal is for the community to benefit the most with both of our shared knowledge bases.”

it’s this communal approach to energy development in rural communities of alaska that will go farther than any imposed climate solution that doesn’t include the people living in that particular area or have traditional ties to.

both the environment and people benefit from this approach as communities have the possibility to enjoy a reduced cost of living. bond references a study that was completed on a “…community in southwest alaska where individuals reduced their spending on heating fuel. because of a thermal battery technology, they were able to spend more time and more money living a more traditional gathering lifestyle.” he continued to explain, that they were “…able to go out berry picking or go out hunting more and living in a way that aligns with their cultural values.”

this is most important when climate change is “…changing the energy environment that people live in,” said bond. “it’s changing the way resources are up here.”

because climate change is so heavily researched by western science, which has experienced continued reinforcement of indigenous knowledge, the phenomena, at its core, can bring people back to their universal values.

as bond says, “we have what’s important to us. many indigenous people have very strong cultural values. we should be able to live out those cultural values, right? one of those things that impede people’s cultural expression is cost of living. why does it matter? shouldn’t we try to make our lives and other people’s better? shouldn’t things get easier as our humanity ages? and that is based on the fact that we should care for other people. at the end of the day, we should care for other people just as much as we do for ourselves and our family.”

full transcript:

from unclean air hovering over cities to unhealthy smoke in homes, air pollution continues to put human health and climate on the line. cameroon, popularly referred to as africa in miniature, is reputed for its geographical and cultural diversity, especially when it comes to traditional meals. for most cameroonians, the three stone fireside method of cooking transcends just making food. it speaks to generational cultures and bonds built over moonlight folklore and folktales of their shared history.

but, for the longest time, the process of preparing these meals has been largely powered by biomass fuels, made possible by the cutting down of trees. the health challenges associated with exposure to these cooking methods cannot be undermined as about 3.2 million worldwide deaths in 2020 were attributed to household air pollution, according to the world health organization. despite these health consequences, most people across sub-saharan africa still cannot afford clean cooking technologies.

aisata ibamie is a young renewable energy engineer, innovative clean energy activist, and a mandela washington fellow (mwf) from logone, a charey village in the far north region of cameroon, and she has had first-hand experience with the challenges of cooking in the country. (in full disclosure, mwf is where this author first met ibamie.) growing up in a rural community, fetching firewood for cooking was one of her least favorite chores –– a routine she shares with more than 70% of cameroonians who still do not have access to clean cooking technologies, as revealed by the world bank. 

driven by curiosity, ibamie’s rare passion and determination to change this narrative for cameroonians led to her creation of an energy efficient and affordable cooker: a cordless, portable, and non-electric bag made from cotton. ibamie hopes the asaab thermal cooker will go a long way to reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions.

“if i want to cook red beans for example, it often takes us two to three hours with firewood or gas. with the thermal cooker, you need just 15 minutes of gas or firewood to boil it, take it off and place in the asaab thermal cooker and close. after 3 hours, it is ready. rice is just 25 minutes on the cooker after heating on any classical fire for 3 minutes. you can leave the food in the cooker for up to 10 hours and it will still be hot when you get back. our customers testify that they are preparing red beans, meat, and others. this is a way for the woman to be free. we have natural and artificial carbon footprints. using the asaab thermal cooker reduces co2.”

the tragic and avoidable chronic illnesses from unhealthy cookstoves continue to put women and girls at the most vulnerable positions as they often stand at the frontline of gathering fuels and preparing meals. to ibamie, providing the thermal cooker solution will not only save lives and the climate, but go a long way to address gender inequalities and promote girl child education in cameroon. 

“one of the motivations for the asaab thermal cooker is that i come from the far north region of cameroon, where women are often marginalized. so they don’t really go to school as they are are expected to take care of the family and not supposed to be educated in school. every time they are cooking — for up to three times per day. always cooking, so they don’t have to go anywhere because they are controlling food. for me, it was a way to give them a chance to take care of the family and also go to school, do business, or go on vacation if they want to. in fact, to be free of always going to the kitchen every time.”

a recent research publication in the pan african medical journal found that indoor pollution already kills about 7,000 people in cameroon annually. considering the numerous kitchen accidents recorded from cooking appliances, ibamie designed the asaab thermal cooker with user-safety in mind.

“i was thinking about safety. i wanted something light that customers would not need too much (experience) to use. the asaab thermal cooker is very safe to use as you don’t have to plug into current or put in the sun before using. it is very simple to use. even your children can come back from school, open it, and serve themselves easily — unlike gas, where you maybe worried that they are exposed to fire, which is very dangerous for the household.”

as the number of internally displaced women and girls continue to rise in cameroon due to security concerns such as the ongoing anglophone crisis in the northwest and southwest regions, and the boko haram insurgency in the northern regions of the country, ibamie believes the thermal cooker could not be more timely.

“the cooker is a blessing for displaced women because they are never stable. they are always moving from one place to another, so it is easy to handle. it is very light. it is less than three kilograms (approximately 6.5 pounds) and you can pack it in a handbag and you go anywhere you want to go with. i can say it is very practical.”

as an emerging young african leader, participating in the 2022 mandela washington fellowship at the university of reno, nevada, served as an opportunity to scale her business by expanding to new markets.

“i met fellows that i can work together with, in the same areas like cooking and climate change and thermal energy efficiency. so yes, i really met people and made customers who brought me other customers, so i have to ship asaab thermal cookers to the u.s.”

by helping to reduce the cutting of trees, ibamie is contributing to one of the focal points of the united nations environmental program (unep), which is to achieve a significant reduction in deforestation while boosting agricultural productivity. it also aligns nicely with one of the resolutions of the climate pact during the 26th edition of the united nations conference of parties in glasgow (cop26 glasgow climate pact), which hammered on the protection, conservation, and restoration of natural ecosystems such as forests.

according to project drawdown, if global adoption of clean cookstoves grows to 16% by 2050, 15.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced. as the world prepares to unite for the 27th u.n. conference in egypt to reflect on the progress with pledges and commitments to accelerate global actions in the climate fight, ibamie hopes that access to clean cooking will give climate delegates food for thought.

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[editor’s note: this transcript was edited for clarity.]

as we move toward urbanization, montreal is a leading city when it comes to this type of innovation. while traveling the city, there are many examples of architecture that have adopted new, green practices, but one of the most striking lies in parc frederic-back.

located in the north-west corner of the city, parc frederic-back is a beautiful piece of urban greenery that spans over 350 acres. this park lies in the middle of the saint-michel environmental complex, the green space is being utilized in a unique way. the park lies on top of the remains of a former quarry and landfill site. creating green space on any old landfill is a win for environmentalists. the most notable aspect of the park are the hundreds of biogas-capturing spheres that dot the land. not only do the spheres collect gas from the earth that is then turned into sustainable energy, they also glow in the dark.

the land has an interesting history tied to it. it has not always been a beloved, manicured green space. its original form was as a limestone quarry for 60 years. it was not loved by the saint-michael community, the neighborhood it is located in. the surrounding residents hated the deafening blows into the earth, and numerous quarry accidents angered them. local protests took place to end work at the quarry. the cries for change were heard, and in 1988 the city of montreal acquired the land from the miron family. it was not yet acquired to be made into a park. according to the city of montreal, it was turned from quarry to landfill by the city, and until 1995 it collected the city’s garbage. during the 90’s, it’s environmental transformation took place. during the renovation, the city called it the “most ambitious environmental rehabilitation project ever undertaken” in an urban area in north america, as reported by the cbc.

one of the first steps to creating an eco-friendlier space was creating a recycling center. the waste treatment and disposal centre was created. then, came the most notable aspect of the park, the alien-like spheres that define the land. montreal-based architecture firms, lemay and morelli, designed the balls for the urban rehabilitation. they created 250 spheres to collect the methane gas that is still being emitted from the remains of the landfill below the surface. about 40 tons of garbage from the landfill still generates fumes and is collected, according to world architecture. from there, the cbc article explains the gazmont power station starts converting into electricity biogas extracted from production wells, which is then sold to hydro-quebec.

the spheres are not only proof of montreal’s dedication to environmentally friendly and sustainable urban planning, but they were created with park-goers in mind. they are safe to be around, and they are interactive. they collect light from the sun on their fiberglass surface, and at night they give off a soft, green glow. when a light source at night, such as a park-goer waving a flashlight, runs across its surface, a multi-colored bright light follows the pattern drawn on by the person. it leaves behind the drawn light pattern and impresses novice flashlight artists. 

marrying an old landfill and a popular park may seem counterintuitive, but the collaboration has created a unique, beloved park in the middle of the saint-michael neighborhood. the transformation of this former brownfield is a feat for the city of montreal, and an example as other cities push to create more urban green spaces. 

if you’ve ever seen a viral doomsday movie, you’ll know that microbes are able to evolve and adapt to their environments very quickly. this is partly due to their quick growth, and partly due to the fact that they can actively pass “good” genes to other microbes around them. however, their adaptation skills can be manipulated in a positive way. their rapid evolutionary growth also allows scientists to engineer ordinary microbes to do extraordinary things for the environment.

here are five ways microbes can help us be more sustainable:

recycling efficiency

as bacteria assimilate to a plastic filled world, some have evolved enzymes that break down the chemicals in common plastic and turn it into food. ideonella sakaiensis is able to break down a thin film of pet plastic in a little over six weeks. these bacteria are so easy to find that even 16 year olds have isolated certain strands of plastic eating bacteria that decompose a toxic plasticizer.

however, this doesn’t mean it’s now ok the throw your plastic water bottle into the ocean. more genetic research must be done to make the enzymes strong enough to break down plastic in larger amounts. yet, it does give hope for making our recycling practices more efficient.

electricity generation

renewable energy isn’t always clean, in the literal sense of the word. in biogas generators, specialized methanobacterium thrive in vats of cow manure and organic field waste. these are the same bacteria found in the stomachs of ruminants, which produce methane gas through anaerobic digestion. methane is generally regarded as bad for the environment, but when captured it can be used as a substitution for energy from natural gas. it’s basically composting on steroids.

in germany, microbes produced 50 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2015. that’s enough to power 500 billion incandescent light bulbs, which is almost 6,000 times the entire population of germany.

carbon dioxide fixation

through a process called carbon fixation, microbes are able to metabolize greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and store them as sugar in plant matter. the most common microbes that do this are called mycorrhizal fungi, which live in symbiosis with plant roots to store up to 70 percent of organic carbon from leaf litter.

scientists are beginning to understand how to nurture plants with specific fungi to maximize carbon fixation. through specialized mycorrhizal fungi partnerships with trees, canada is already burying 20 mtco2e per year, which is the carbon equivalent of almost 22,000 pounds of coal burned.

pollution cleanup

scientists are able to ‘program’ bacteria to break down heavy metal pollutants in contaminated soils through a process called bioremediation. this process can be done on-site, and the products are usually harmless – carbon dioxide, water, and cellular biomass.

the practice is fairly common, and it is used to remedy pollution from industrial waste in groundwater to large oil spills. dechloromonas aromatica is used to break down benzene, a common ground and surface water contaminant, while pseudomonas putida is used for the bioremediation of naphthalene, a product of petroleum refining.

fertilizing crops

droughts, flooding, and temperature changes are all common symptoms of climate change. however, research shows that soil bacteria controls a large part of crop drought resistance and growth efficiency. bacillus sp. and paenibacillus sp. microbes most likely have contributed to plant adaptation in harsh conditions, such as dry mountainsides, by aiding in resource acquisition. the efficiency of a plant’s resource acquisition lies heavily on water uptake, so using these microbes on crops can have similar drought resistant effects.

initiatives in africa explore the use of a nitrogen fixing bacterium that would help plants with the uptake of nitrogen, the limiting nutrient in most crops. the program involved more than 230,000 small farmers in 11 different countries. using natural microbes to fertilize makes crop efficiency practices more accessible throughout areas hit hard by climate change.

in many cases microbes are already helping the planet in underrated ways. technological developments and advanced genetic engineering make microbiological innovation a major player in climate change mitigation.

manure, fish bones and charcoal. ancient native farmers in central america recycled these wastes in an intricate system to sustain water resources as well as replenish the land.

they used fire and ashes as a natural way to fertilize their land. with these sustainable systems, the natives developed their complex and diverse farming techniques and expanded the types of crops they cultivated.  these communities received all that they needed to survive from the land, and did as much as they could to make sure they gave back to their environment.

fast-forward to modern day panama, where the eco-town kalu yala strives to attain levels of sustainability like those who laid the groundwork for them in central america thousands of years ago. in a small valley, high up in the mountains, more than 100 members of the kalu yala community of interns and staff have started to establish irrigation systems for fish and water farming systems. they are also testing new crops that can flourish in the jungle’s hot and sticky climate, or during the daily downpour of the several-months-long rainy season. when it comes to sustainability, the members of kalu yala use the eco-town as a living laboratory for the best ways to reduce their carbon footprint and become as self-sustaining as possible. growing their own food and producing their own fuel from organic wastes helps meet that goal.

“we don’t want to be constantly reactive to (fixing) things that are unsustainable,” says rachael maysels, 26, the assistant director of biology, one of several internship programs at kalu yala. “we want to think about it ahead of time and act in advance of our actions so there is room for mistakes.”

in the conversation surrounding sustainability, carbon footprint and carbon emissions are topics that often come up. a person’s carbon footprint measures the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted as waste products due to consumption of materials — particularly fossil fuels.

“we’re not just trying to shoot for being carbon neutral at kalu yala. it’s trying to be carbon negative,” maysels says. “that’s something we can do with reforestation, pruning and turning (the plant matter) into charcoal. there are all these ways to kind of take one step further and it’s more of a proactive approach.”

maysels is helping the eco-town through the production of biochar, one of many ongoing programs that involve the interns that come to kalu yala from across the globe.

“it’s a simple idea and a simple method that can make a really big impact,” maysels explains. “it’s the idea of turning waste plant material, organic material into charcoal through a method of pyrolysis,” or the heating of materials without oxygen.

according to the united states department of agriculture, biochar is thought to have been used as a soil supplement in the amazon basin thousands of years ago. indigenous people created areas of “terra protta,” or “dark earth,” to regenerate fertilized soil for planting. by burying biomass, a combination of burnt wood and other organic materials, deep in the ground, the material heats up under pressure and goes through the process of pyrolysis, the thermodynamic decomposition of organic materials.

“almost like if you have a campfire, what’s left at the end is ash” – and char, maysels says. but when the burning process is buried, “you’re releasing all of the other material except for carbon.” this captures the carbon and prevents it from escaping back into the air, slowing down the release of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. this release prevention negates the carbon footprint that the burning of wastes would generate.

the creation of biochar also has other benefits, such as increasing soil fertility and water retention, as the ancients knew. “this really helps when it comes to the rainy season here,” maysels says. “we want to prevent erosion and hold on to as many nutrients as possible.”

but in the jungle, there are many challenges when it comes to accessing resources to make these experimentations with biochar more elaborate. “having a lot of the resources … to keep you going out here can be tough,” says ryan king, the director of biology at kalu yala.

“we’re trying to switch over everything to renewable energy.” biochar is one of the key ways to do so.  

to jump these hurdles, maysels finds that creativity and her college training in indigenous farming help make the process as simple, yet as effective, as possible.

“initially, my first design was a biochar system that took a lot of materials, which took some specific style hardware that couldn’t easily be found,” maysels says. “i think by setting limitations is when you get creative. restricting the ease of things, your brain starts to work around those obstacles.”

the process comes along with a lot of trial and error, but the community at kalu yala emphasizes learning from mistakes in experimentation. “here, they want you to do as much as you can and be creative, passionate, and make mistakes and keep doing it again,” king says. “having sterile and pristine equipment is definitely needed in certain fields of work, but you can’t control our systems. our earth systems have proven to be a lot more complicated with interacting factors. you have to study it through a different type of ecology.”

since joining the kalu yala staff in january and experimenting with biochar, maysels has combined her background knowledge with new and creative adaptations to progress toward reducing carbon from campfires. one solution involves digging a hole for the fires to hold more carbon in place.

“i graduated college in 2012 and did my field research part of my degree in the himalayas,” maysels says. “on a backpacking trip, i studied indigenous agriculture and high mountain ecology. i got launched into agriculture and since then have been to maybe about 20 countries and worked on maybe 18 farms in those countries, just studying internationally different styles of farming, food systems, small scale techniques, indigenous techniques.”

like the indigenous communities thousands of years before, the kalu yala systems are not perfect on the first try, but they strive to utilize what they can from the environment around them, reusing and replenishing as much as possible. the community members like to say it’s a culture of learning. but the learning at kalu yala would not happen without doing.

at sunrise, maysels heads down the dirt path to the area of campus with a large compost pile and stacks of burnt wood and organic waste ready for her to bury. she starts digging.

by katlyn manka
​planet forward intern/marymount university

a food factory in the uk is taking the term “plant power” to a new level: it runs on potatoes.

uk company 2 sisters food group has joined the race in sustainable energy by converting their factory in carlisle, a city in cumbria, england, into a bio-refinery, allowing the factory to generate power from its own renewable waste. this is part of the company’s strategy to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent and landfill waste production to zero.

the 2 sisters’ bio-refinery uses potato waste from the plant’s mashed potato and pie-manufacturing lines, converting it into electricity via four anaerobic digestion processes, which, when fully operational, will produce the equivalent of the average annual electricity use of about 850 uk homes. anaerobic digestion is the process of allowing organic material to rot in the absence of oxygen, producing a biogas that can then burn cleanly to generate electricity. this is the same process that many groups use for harvesting methane from animal waste. 

the innovative idea of powering a facility by redirecting waste is catching on, but many companies have been using waste as a source of power for years. whiskey distilleries in scotland have been using the waste generated through whiskey production to power thousands of homes since 2011. fittingly, it seems that a wave of sustainable energy focused on the production and use of biofuels will only grow in the coming decades.

the coffee industry also is ambitiously pursuing a solution to a serious waste problem (the wet milling process alone pollutes water 30 to 40 times more than urban sewage) and is adopting methods to successfully transform waste into a valuable resource. advances in biofuel creation from coffee is one prominent focus, but innovations stretch as far as making flour from the pod that the coffee beans grow in.

there are even companies that specialize in the ambitious venture of turning everyday consumer trash into clean energy. one example method burns trash in filtered, pressurized chambers. the heat is used to create steam under the same high pressure conditions, which in turn rotates turbines. the ashes produced are sent to an existing landfill in place of soil cover.

the advantage of generating power from waste is clearly worth the adjustment because it cuts costs and emissions. if the potato powered factory is successful, 2 sisters food group plans to convert all their factories into bio-refineries. it’s even possible that other companies will follow suit, improving alternative energy one potato at a time.

more than 100 elevators on penn state’s campus require hydraulic fluid, which is traditionally petroleum-based and problematic when there’s a sprung leak.

not long ago, the university turned to penn state researcher joe perez, a renowned expert on bio-based fuels and lubricants, to help develop an alternative for the 17,000 gallons of hydraulic fluid used by the school.

now penn state is encouraging other schools to convert to soy-based and showing them how.