Following months of process and deliberation, the Pitt Sustainability Challenge winner was selected at a public pitch event on September 14, 2023.
Ecotone Renewables beat out 5 other finalists to win a $300,000 implementation grant to advance carbon neutrality to the benefit of the Pitt community.
Learn more about Ecotone’s proposal to deploy anaerobic digesters at Pitt.
Ecotone proposed an integrated, impactful, durable, and feasible solution aligned with the the Pitt Sustainability Plan and balancing equity, environment and economics to ensure current and future generations can thrive across disciplines, domains and scales.
Ecotone’s Proposal: Ecotone Renewables’ Anaerobic Digestion Technology looks to divert carbon emissions by converting local food waste into nutrient-dense, ready-to-use fertilizer. ZEUS anaerobic digesters on or near campus will address these issues by processing 10 tons of food waste and diverting 120 tons of CO2 emissions per system per year, aiding in Pitt’s mission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2037. This waste will then be converted into 2,600 gallons of Soil Sauce, a ready-to-use, ultra-clean, nutrient-microbial-rich fertilizer. This fertilizer will help support Pitt’s expanding garden and tree cover infrastructure by improving the vitality of green roofs and increasing campus tree and plant life’s ability to capture carbon — putting it back in the land rather than the atmosphere.
More detailed information on project deployment will be provided later in 2023.
For current news and additional details about the challenge, visit the Pitt Sustainability Challenge website.