Dive Brief:

• A U.S. Air Force Academy cadet named Marcus Penner spent the summer working with scientists to convert food waste into methane using an anaerobic digester.
• The team worked out of the Tyndall Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO, but the idea is to create a system that can be used wherever personnel are deployed. 
• The Air Force Civil Engineer Center continues to refine the process by testing different digesters and is looking for ways to package and ship the organic materials used to initiate the digestion process.

Dive Insight:

The system used two distinct types of bacteria that work in conduction to produce methane. The team was able to produce 44% methane from the 200-gallon digester. The most difficult aspect of the test was to maintain the proper balance between the bacteria. The project used food scraps collected at restaurants for the experiment.

The U.S. Army is also working toward sustainability. The army has a "Net Zero Waste" program, and the goal is to reduce the volume of waste generated by 2020. This is expected to be attained through recycling and waste reduction practices. The Fort Hood Recycle Center collects 800 tons of recyclables per month. Soldiers returning from deployment often bring back ideas for increasing the recycling rate.