Achieving SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

Because of the wide range of processable ingredients, our biomass carbonization technology can assist developing countries to achieve various development goals. The following table illustrates selected examples of technology application to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What is SDGs?

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a universal set of goals that are expected to work as a unified framework for all the UN member states and their public, private, academic sectors to pursue sustainable development. There are 17 goals ranging from poverty eradication, gender equality to water and sanitation and ecosystem conservation. 

Please choose from the list below

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  Photo by SuSanA Secretariat

  Human waste directly discharged to the environment near a river in Kenya

  Reducing sanitation problem

  In many developing countries, inadequate human waste management has been one of major causes for sanitation problem. For example in Kenya, human waste is collected from septic tanks and pit latrines at each household by exhauster service providers or municipalities. The human waste is transported to a certain site, but the treatment is often inadequate, causing pollution and sanitation problem in the surrounding water system. By recycling human waste by our carbonization plant at the drop-off point, less waterborne diseases will be expected.

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  Traditional houses in Mongolia burning low-quality coal, causing serious air pollution in winter

  Reducing air pollution by cleaner energy

  There are more and more health concerns arising from air pollution in developing countries. In Mongolia, households, schools and other buildings depend on low-quality coal as fuel. As the urban concentration continues, the level of PM2.5 in winter has become one of the most serious environmental issues of the country, drastically increasing the number of asthma patients. Meiwa’s carbonization technology can process the low-quality coal into non-smoke emitting coal and combustible gas both as alternative and cleaner heat source preventing air pollution and related diseases.

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  Dumping site of a local core city. It is a bad environment due to garbage and harmful smoke in Kenya

  Minimizing waste to be taken to landfills

  There is tons of organic waste generated through consumption and production activities, but currently many of them are dumped or burned with fuel. Biomass carbonization technology encourages medium- to large-scale producers and municipalities to recycle their residual biomass, such as agricultural residue, food waste and animal waste. As a result, the amount of waste to be taken to landfill as a whole will be significantly reduced.

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  Simplified illustration of global carbon cycle

  Climate change mitigation by economic cycle

  On macro scale, fixing biochar (which used to be just another organic waste to be dumped and burnt with fuel) into soil is a carbon negative behavior. By using biochar, farmers will be a driving force to mitigate climate change even if they are not yet environmentally aware. Although exact number depends on ingredient type and other conditions, generally the application of 100g of biochar approximately equals to reducing 160-170g of atmospheric carbon dioxide as compared to burning.

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  Dead maize field that could not survive under unusual rainfall pattern

  Climate change adaptation with biochar, cutting water consumption

  Because of the high porosity, biochar can improve water retention as a soil conditioner. Since biochar can make rainfed agriculture more resilient to irregular rainfall pattern, it can serve as one of the easiest and most powerful approaches for climate change adaptation. This is especially meaningful for Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) where water is more scarce.

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  Photo by Richard Portsmouth

  Lake Victoria all covered by water hyacinth, interrupting local business and aquatic ecosystem

  Mitigating nutrient pollution

  If chemical fertilizer is overused, only a part of them can be absorbed by the target plants and many of them will remain in the soil. Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus easily get eroded during rainy season and go to the downstream, causing eutrophication in closed water system. Water hyacinth invasion in lakes is one of the real-world examples, resulting in huge losses for fishery and transport industries as well as aquatic ecosystem. By replacing chemical fertilizer by biochar in upstream, this impact is likely to be mitigated in downstream.

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  Photo by kman_chongwe

  Charcoal possibly made of illegally-harvested woods on sale for daily income

  Combating desertification

  One of the known causes of deforestation is tree cutting for energy use driven by poverty. By producing biochar as an alternative for wood charcoal and firewood, deforestation can be mitigated.

  Halting land degradation

  Also, desertification and overuse of agricultural chemicals often result in land degradation. Biochar as soil conditioner and natural fertilizer can help halt the degradation and sustain or improve agricultural productivity and afforestation.