Solar CITIES Formation of Global Biogas Education Team Hero Image

Solar CITIES Formation of Global Biogas Education Team

Dec 16, 2013 - Dec 18, 2013 • New York City


Solar CITIES, a new non-profit organization dedicated to the introduction of small scale biodigester technology to motivated leaders and groups in urban settlements of developing countries, is forming a Biogas Education Team. Educators from Iraq, Palestine (West Bank), Israel, Egypt, Italy, India, Kenya, Portugal, and the United States are part of the initial team. They will provide education and demonstration projects on the use of biodigesters in their countries.

Solar CITIES is based on the work done by National Geographic Emerging Explorer Thomas Culhane, who used two Blackstone-National Geographic Innovation Challenge grants in 2009 and 2010 to introduce the technology to communities in Eastern Africa and the Himalayan Region of Asia. Since that time he has developed a network of as many as 700 biodigester enthusiasts on Facebook.

Blackstone Ranch Institute provided a grant to hold the inaugural team meeting in December 2013 and purchase biodigester molds for team training. It is envisioned that the team will form the core of Solar CITIES, which now has an executive staff and board of directors. Insinkerator, a company that makes garbarge disposals for kitchen sinks, has provided a grant to cover operational costs for the first three years. Their first major initiative will be a set of demonstration sites in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during the time of the World Cup soccer matches in the summer of 2014.

Solar CITIES

Solar CITIES is a non-profit that has emerged from the work of National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer Thomas Culhane, who has spent the past several years introducing biodigester technology to...

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