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2014: Presentation to the American Alpine Club

In July the Mt. Everest Biogas Project was invited to present our project to the American Alpine Club at their 3 days Sustainable Summits Conference.

Focus of the conference was “to shape and share environmentally sustainable solutions for mountain areas, while also developing global partnerships”.

View the presentation below:

Garry Porter – A Waste Solution for Everest: The Biogas Project

Every year, 12,000 Kg. of solid human waste is carried from the base camps of Mt. Everest and surrounding peaks and dumped into unlined pits in the vicinity of Gorak Shep, elevation 17,000’.

Garry and a team of volunteer engineers from the Seattle area have spent 4 years designing a biogas system to operate in the extreme environment and remote location of Gorak Shep. The design is based on utilizing an off the shelf biogas digester design and modifying it to function in the colder environment of Gorak Shep.

There are thousands of biogas digesters functioning in Nepal, India and China at lower elevations and warmer climates but none in the cold environment of Gorak Shep. They are used to convert human, animal and kitchen waste into methane gas for cooking or lighting and fertilizer for crops.

Garry is the project leader for the biogas system. He is a retired Boeing Company Program manager with over 34 years of engineering/program management experience. Garry holds a MS degree in engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska.

Garry has climbed major mountains in North and South America as well as Nepal and Tibet. His other outdoor activities include biking, running and rock climbing. He just completed the 6 day, 500 mile bike ride in Colorado called Ride the Rockies.

 

2014: Completed new revised design and documented in Basis of Design document BOD

It was the intent of the design team that the biogas system design be transparent such that it could be replicated in other locations.

As the design evolved, all the assumptions and calculations were documented in the Basis of Design (BOD) document.

This document was vetted by outside experts in the Seattle area and released.

Read more here: Basis of Design April 23 2015 FINAL

 

2015: Lab/Bench testing of blue barrel waste in conjunction with Kathmandu University

Dr. Michael Marsolek of Seattle University spent a month in Kathmandu meeting with Kathmandu University to set up a program to conduct lab/bench tests with samples of human waste from Everest base camp.

Testing may take up to 2 years and will confirm the performance modeling done in 2011.

More important the testing will deepen the collaboration between the Seattle team and the people of Nepal and will help develop a network of technical support for the project once implemented.

Read more (3) — link to be added.

 

2015: Seattle chapter of Architects Without Borders (AWB) initiates design for shelter over the digester

One of the final technical design hurdles is the design of the structure over the biogas digester to maintain an acceptable atmospheric environment and provide storage and work space for the operators of the system.

The Seattle chapter of Architects without Borders (AWB) has volunteered their member’s time and talent to this design. Initial design concepts are attached.

Read more (2) — link to be added.