Supernatural

Supernatural is an exhibition and community project developed by Pink Pony Express which worked with a muslim community in Amsterdam to convert leftover bread into cooking gas.

Kolenkit is a majority Muslim district in western Amsterdam with a large amount of waste bread. According to the Koran, bread is not allowed to be thrown away and must be given back the the earth, which has developed a problem with pests. Specialty bins were provided by the municipality to collect and dispose of unwanted bread in a manner that is compatible with Muslim teachings.

Pink Pony Express, a collective of designers and artists based in Amsterdam, began the Supernatural project in 2012, a process that uses the excess bread collected from these bins to create biogas. Data from the project showed that:

Per week there are about 200 loaves of bread thrown away by Muslim families in the Kolenkit. This could generate approximately 60,000 liters of biogas, One stovetop burner set on high uses approximately 1000 liters of biogas per hour. Thus, the bread from the Kolenkit could keep a stove top burning for 60 hours per week. – cyclifier.org

Due to the success of the project, Pink Pony were granted  funds to develop a large scale digester, which is now being used permanently as part of an open community kitchen. Opened in March 2014 and now called Gascoland, the kitchen is a showcase for the pioneering techniques used to create the biogas, and a means to give back to the local community.

Gascoland

Links

Image Source Pink Pony Express

For more information about the processes of the project –cyclifier.org  and insideflows.com

Interview with Pink Pony Express – http://www.emi-network.eu/Sharing_knowledge/Interviews/Interview_Pink_Pony_Express_municipalities_are_afraid_to_have_real_contact_with_citizens