{"id":66297,"date":"2021-08-01T13:06:13","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T16:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=66297"},"modified":"2021-11-23T17:48:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T20:48:06","slug":"the-energy-that-comes-from-waste-biodigester-turns-sewage-into-biogas-in-vale-encantado-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=66297","title":{"rendered":"Energy That Comes From Waste: Biodigester Turns Sewage into Biogas in Vale Encantado Favela [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bWo2eVIbKZ0\" width=\"620\" height=\"349\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/ValeEncantadoGas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-23766\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/PT-e1439583827971.png\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" \/><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-66302 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU-300x102.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"232\" height=\"79\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU-300x102.png 300w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU-1024x348.png 1024w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU-768x261.png 768w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU-1536x523.png 1536w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SDSU.png 1934w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><em>This English subtitled <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/ValeEncantadoVideo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">documentary<\/a> is the latest contribution to our series on <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/FavelaEnergyJustice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">energy justice and efficiency in Rio\u2019s favelas<\/a>. It is also part of a <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/SDSUFavelaRightsSeries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> created in partnership with the <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/SDSUBehnerCenter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/a> at at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/SDSUDigitalBrazilProject\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Digital Brazil Project<\/a> on human rights and socio-environmental justice in the favelas for RioOnWatch.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The lack of basic sanitation is an old problem in <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1lXTQyl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vale Encantado<\/a>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1JK7H2c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">long-established community<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/2YCX95S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alto da Boa Vista<\/a>, in Rio\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2IgR5qe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Zone<\/a>. Without an adequate system, the sewage produced by its homes ended up in improvised sinkholes\u2014holes in the ground that serve as the endpoint to a residence&#8217;s plumbing, where solids are deposited and liquids seep into the soil\u2014and in a stormwater canal that ran through the neighborhood. In this small creek, the untreated sewage from the community and from apartment buildings above it contaminated the clean water from nearby springs, which flow into the forest and a nearby waterfall.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66298\" title=\"Since 2015, five houses have been treating their sewage through the Vale Encantado biosystem. Photo: Jaqueline Suarez\" src=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters-580x326.jpeg 580w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters-174x98.jpeg 174w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Vale Encantado\u2019s sanitation problems have become a central issue for the <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3w7soEg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vale Encantado Cooperative<\/a>, an organization created in 2007 in an effort to generate employment and income for local residents. Sustainable tourism-related activities offered by the Cooperative were threatened by the contamination in the water and forest. Ot\u00e1vio Barros, president of the Cooperative and of the Residents&#8217; Association, began researching alternative ways to treat the community&#8217;s waste and sewage. As a result of Barros\u2019 search, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1uSanop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vale Encantado\u2019s first biodigester<\/a> was installed in 2014 to serve the Cooperative&#8217;s restaurant.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66299\" title=\"The biodigester supplies biogas generated from food waste to the cooperative's kitchen. Photo: Jaqueline Suarez\" src=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2-580x326.jpeg 580w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/biodigesters2-174x98.jpeg 174w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/2KFdT7D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biodigesters<\/a> function as large containers where the organic material deposited is consumed by bacteria. The process generates at least three byproducts: biogas, liquid biofertilizer and fertilizer. The first biodigester installed for the Cooperative&#8217;s restaurant operates using food waste to supply biogas to the Cooperative&#8217;s kitchen. The second biodigester, built in 2015, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1jlOi0c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">integrates a biosystem to treat sewage<\/a>, and depends in part on a root zone filter. Although it was designed to serve all 28 houses, so far only five homes in Vale Encantado have had their sewage channeled into this biodigester, which is already able to produce biogas to meet the energy demands of one family.<\/p>\n<p>According to Leonardo Adler, an environmental engineer working on the project, for every five to ten families connected to the system, enough biogas can be generated to supply one new house. In accordance with these calculations, connecting the entire community to the biodigester would be able to produce biogas for up to five (of the 28) homes, or 18% of the community. The Cooperative&#8217;s biodigester, on the other hand, is already able to process 50kg of organic material daily, operating only with food waste. According to environmental engineer Tito Cals, at full capacity the biodigester will be able to receive the food waste produced by the entire community of Vale Encantado and even from part of the surrounding area of Alto da Boa Vista, while producing the equivalent of a cylinder of biogas every two days.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66300\" title=\"The sewage treated in the biosystem supplies biogas to one of the Vale Encantado houses. Photo: Jaqueline Suarez\" src=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3-580x326.jpeg 580w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Biodigesters3-174x98.jpeg 174w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Born and raised in the community, Barros says he views Vale Encantado as an incubator of new ideas. These ideas are born within the community and with the help of friends, they become reality. Barros&#8217; dream is to see the biodigesters working at full capacity, integrated into the Cooperative&#8217;s plans to generate jobs and income for residents, thereby affirming Vale Encantado as a sustainable and environmentally friendly community.<\/p>\n<h3>Watch Jaqueline Suarez&#8217;s Documentary Above or <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/ValeEncantadoVideo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Here<\/a>.<\/h3>\n<p><em>About the director: <i>Jaqueline Suarez is a journalist and master\u2019s student at the<\/i><\/em>\u00a0<em>Fluminense Federal University<i>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2J7BN7l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UFF<\/a>), in Niter\u00f3i. She is also a community journalist and independent documentary filmmaker. She lives in the favela of\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/377s5NT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Fallet<\/i><\/a><i>, in\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2OgGsGL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Santa Teresa<\/i><\/a><i>,\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2WO9a3S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Central Rio<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66308\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66308\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-66308\" src=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos-620x264.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos-768x327.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos-300x128.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arte-por-Yara-Santos-940x400.jpeg 940w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66308\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Original artwork by Yara Santos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>About the artist: Illustrator\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3fPvHuD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yara Santos<\/a> is a student of generalist design at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). Born and raised in the periphery of S\u00e3o Paulo, she seeks to represent elements of the black and peripheral culture in which she is inserted into her art. Most of her production is centered on digital techniques.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is part of a\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/FavelaEnergyJustice\"><em>series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio\u2019s favelas<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>Support\u00a0RioOnWatch\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/FavelaCovidResponse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">by clicking here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>\ufeff Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This English subtitled documentary is the latest contribution to our series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio\u2019s favelas. It is also part of a series created in partnership with <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=66297\" title=\"Energy That Comes From Waste: Biodigester Turns Sewage into Biogas in Vale Encantado Favela [VIDEO]\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":66308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1328,329,452,1739],"tags":[490,950,756,258,474,223,37,740,535,3011,3235,373,1403,471,3186,2124,489,514,1801,1140,370],"writer":[3137],"translator":[3385],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-66297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-by-community-contributors","9":"category-solutions","10":"category-rio20","11":"category-video","12":"tag-alto-da-boa-vista","13":"tag-biodigester","14":"tag-community-organizing","15":"tag-community-solution","16":"tag-environment","17":"tag-favela-as-a-model","18":"tag-north-zone","19":"tag-research-findings","20":"tag-sanitation","21":"tag-series-human-rights-with-support-from-the-behner-stiefel-center-at-sdsu","22":"tag-series-energy-justice-and-efficiency","23":"tag-sewerage","24":"tag-solution","25":"tag-sustainability","26":"tag-sfn","27":"tag-sustainable-favela-network","28":"tag-tijuca-forest","29":"tag-vale-encantado","30":"tag-video","31":"tag-waste-management","32":"tag-water","33":"writer-jaqueline-suarez","34":"translator-saskia-wright"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66297"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=66297"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=66297"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=66297"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=66297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}