Other Ventures
This is my nest of hopeful projects waiting to find a home and hatch. At the moment the methane digester is my focus, but if one of these inspires you please support its birth! I'd be happy to facilitate, I have some resources to offer for each, and hopefully we'll see each of these move grow into actualization
(or the need be filled other wise in other ways).
Those on the left are viable businesses harnessing new decent (decentralized and honest) technologies that capture wasted/un/underused resource, while those on the right are more needs than opportunities.
PbPV- lead remediation solar manufacture
The technology has now been open sourced so that anyone connected to the internet (to order a few specialized chemicals and equipments) with access to a clean workspace can manufacture photovoltaic cells out of old lead batteries! 1 battery has enough lead to provide permanent power to 30 homes! I dream of a company that leverages this opportunity to remediate lead from our lands and cities as well.
Pyro-Cell: biomass gasification fuel cell
Similar in a sense to the methane composter the biomass gassifire also decomposes hydrocarbons in an anaerobic (oxygen free) environment. Gasification, or pyrolysis, uses heat to break hydrocarbons into carbon (charcoal) and a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This technology has immense promise- an electric car that runs on trash is just one application- and every piece of this system is tested tech, but some development is needed for a full working proof of concept.
PermaCAD- an open source, drone-compatible eco-farm planning platform
This tool would map the topography of a parcel of land and then allow a permaculture designer to illustrate alterations and options. Communities could be more engaged in planning public space by being empowered by a real-world sort of "SIM-Garden", where they can easily express their visions.
http://www.ted.com/talks/vijay_kumar_the_future_of_flying_robots
http://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_how_to_grow_a_forest_in_your_backyard
AliNET- farm to freeperson food network, bulk buying + shipping logistics tool
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Local food sovreignty is foundational to a free resilient world and navigating the commerical food system can be a confusing snarl. This program would track what foods are grown where, who wants them where, and then would help connect the two. Consumer-feedback could be supported as well, fostering a real dialogue about the costs of farming and the options and incentives for ecological models.
NatureScout- Learn freely through the evolution of human consciousness
This idea is based heavily on the "Lumiar" school in Brazil, which i discovered in this TED talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ricardo_semler_how_to_run_a_company_with_almost_no_rules
At about minute 11.
It talks of a "curriculum mosaic" where every needed lesson or skill in the whole curriculum of personhood (everything that your community decides a kid should know in the process of discovering and being welcomed into the world) is represented by a "tile" or a "badge". A child would start in the middle and work out... more on this later
Worker Core
I have witnessed in many different parts of my life a need for a digital work coordination platform- something that could both serve as an Uber for construction industries and an essential camp/festival/ volunteer work organization tool. This would allow workers to gain competency levels and be matched with appropriate work, which could be managed (coordinating plans, tools, materials, and quality control) digitally with an app, allowing for more self-direction on the part of worker and less heirarchy.
Media CoOp
The Sacred Stone Water Protector Movement, which was CoOpted and has so far been hampered by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe leadership, highlights the need for a new mass outlet of accurate media covering the country and the world. In a world as complex, large and connected as ours new models of sorting news and sharing narratives are needed, and exist in disparate pockets.
Organizing on a new social media site could be a step in this direction: