Strasbourg, France - 2015

Status: Pilot

Anaerobic digestion is widely used as a source of renewable energy by some great initiatives. GDF Suez has a large water purifying installation in Strasbourg, France, where they use this technique to produce gas. A project that is still work in progress, but the company hopes that by 2020, 5% of the natural gas flowing through the French network will be organically produced gas.

This nifty little trick is called anaerobic digestion. It happens when micro organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally at the bottoms of some oceans and lakes. It can be used on an industrial scale by adding in an air tight space biodegradable waste -like the sludge from sewers- a little heat, and a scientific cocktail of bacteria. Taday, we have just organically and sustainably produced gas.