New project Outline

[Rick Stillwagon]

This doesn't mention aquaponics specifically, but it is a part of the system.  It will include some other components later: solar, steam, residential waste streams, etc. but I didn't want it to be too confusing or convoluted.  It actually already looks a bit more complicated than it really is.  The main idea is combining an industry, and its waste or byproducts (heat, water, organic waste) to grow food and conserve and clean the water before it makes it back out into the environment.

It has been interesting the response I get concerning water conservation and CO2 sequestration.  Most of the PhD professors I have spoken to think that worrying about a few hundred thousand gallons of water and releasing thousands of pounds of CO2 is not worth the effort. These professors are at relatively progressive universities, something that really surprised me. Considering the massive boom in the micro-distillery industry.

Although, the Department of Ecology in several states has been asking what is going to be done with the CO2 produced and the waste water.  So apparently, there is a disconnect between our educators and governing entities.

My goal is to prevent as much interference in my business by heading off the issues of CO2, solid waste, and waste water.  The big distilleries have systems available to them, or rely on municipal services to eliminate their wastes.  I want to turn these liabilities into assets.  All the wastes produced become salable products or produce one in the form of food.  

[Linda Logan]

Rick,

Just love your creativity and hope you are thriving.

[Anne Phillip]

This looks excellent Rick! Good luck with everything!

[Lloyd Booth]

Good afternoon Rick,

> . . I like what you are doing and what you are trying to do -- that is reuse or recycle what would be considered waste into useful and profitable products or supplies for others to use.

> . . I suspect that many professors are thinking with the BIG business sides of their brains and not the artisan side. Theoretically I think that if pushed they would say that they can't think of wasting anything as GOOD.

> . . But, from a BIG BUSINESS side, there's no reason for a commercial concern to buy from or use an intermittent very small supplier. For example, suppose you were to propose that a major soda bottler [Pepsi, Coke, Shasta] with a local plant buy the excess CO2 from you? They would not consider it because they are configured to use industrial sized tanks of CO2, think in the multi-ton tanks of compressed liquefied CO2. The reason they use the those huge tanks is that it costs to hook up new tanks, lots of safety issues with pressurized tanks, etc. So then, the fewer changes of tanks the more money is saved to the bottler.

> . . Now, a craft maker of soda would eagerly take the tanks you would produce and swap you an empty tank. Ditto any other other intermittent user of CO2. Do bars use CO2 to pump liquids to the glass? Or, you could plan to use fruit pulp, or similar to make your alcohol; if you were to reuse some of the product to make a fruit based soda of artisan quality, with limited availability; you would use some or most of your excess CO2 while diversifying your product line. Or say, Farmer John offers you a container of raspberry pulp at a good price when you buy his apple pulp, and you divert it to a soda line made from fruit, not fruit flavoring? Apple, too, could work. Etc. The point is to use up your own CO2 while diversifying your product line, not to go national with a new product.

> . . Just some random thoughts in answer to your excellent ideas.