Picture / Visual Explanation / Inspiration

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Roots of a tree spread underground laterally and horizontally as well as grow over time.

Since later and horizontal wells have their own advantages and disadvantages, this system would combine them in an attempt to utilize both of their strengths together. It would also be made to be adjustable and grow over time as the landfill grows and adapt to any changing conditions.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): A snake has the ability to dig holes and tunnels underground. Snakes also shed their skin and leave an outerlining behind them.

This concept consists of a robot device that digs tunnels underneath the landfill and drags a liner connected to a gas well in order to capture the methane. It could also be used to create a system of holes that could possibly aerate the landfill.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Cell membranes only allow for certain things to pass through the cells wall and into the membrane. This lesson can be applied to separating organics into landfills.

The design is a machine that seperates organic wastes with non organic waste by using camera recognition to “knock out” the organic waste from one conveyor belt onto another conveyor belt. The organic waste is then moved to be broken down through an aerobic process.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): The process of leaves and other natural plants breaking down and returning nutritions to the soil to be used again.

The design is a window compositing garden that has the top portion of the container as a garden and the bottom as a compositing station. Composting waste takes place at the bottom of the garden and the air filters through the soil and plants to get to the atmosphere.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): The outside shelling of a seed keeps the nutritious plant inside with protection. This aspect can use the biodegradable outside as the seed shell while the inside (compost) is the inside of the seed.

The design is a biodegradable compositing contain/pit which is open to breakdown organic waste through an aerobic process. The design is placed into a shallow hole where then organic materials will be placed inside. The organic materials will breakdown and then eventually the biodegradable outside will breakdown and the composited soil will become one with its surroundings.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Cell membranes only allow for certain things to pass through the cells wall and into the membrane. This lesson can be applied to separating organics into landfills.

The design is a dual trash can and compositor that separates normal trash and compostable trash. The normal trash will be able to go to landfills to be broken down in a regular anaerobic process while the organic waste is broken down through an aerobic process.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): The process of leaves and other natural plants breaking down and returning nutritions to the soil to be used again.

The design is a proposed cycle which organic waste is used for nutritious value instead of going to a landfill to produce methane. Organic waste is left at Compositing stations. The gas produced aat compositing stations is used to power trucks which moves the composited soil to farms. Farms use the nutritive soil to grow organics which is then sold to people. At this point, the cycle starts over again. Other ideas include having compostable/biodegradable bags to transfer organic waste to composting stations.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): The process that worms used to create tunnels under the surface.

The design is a worm robot that creates air tunnels in landfill to allow for waste to be broken down through an aerobic process. Possible designs also include the worm building air wells to support the tunnel in addition to just making a hole in the ground.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Alkali Files ability to hold water droplets around their bodies while underwater and create air bubbles.

The design is an addition to air well systems in place at current landfills to prevent water from entering the landfill. The “hairs” would be placed inside the air wells and which catch water as it enters through the wells. The water would then be transferred away. This would help to increase the likeliness that a landfill could breakdown waste through an anaerobic process.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Methane compressed into blocks to be used like wood taken from trees

Methane can be turned into a powder using dry water which then can have other uses. One use could be to compress it into a log shape so that people will not cut down trees but use these methane logs. These logs can be potentially used in campfires or building houses among other things depending on how strong they are.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Inspired by the stomach and how it digests food

The process would use chemicals derived from water treatment facilities in order to skip the decomposition phase and allow for a type of plastic to be created. This plastic can then be used to make other products that would replace making new materials to be used for it.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Fish Gills, help to filter oxygen out of water and keep most toxins/other gases out. Saiga Antelope, evolved nose structure to filter out particulate matter from entering their respiratory system

Some landfills already have a filter system for collecting methane and other gases, but on occasion certain particle matter and other gases manage to enter the system causing trouble. This design would serve as a multi-filter system that traps particle matter and sends it back out into the landfill as well as other gases, while only taking in the methane

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Red Wood Ant mounds, have a central mound/home for the colony which branches out to smaller mounds as secondary homes. Meerkats/groundhogs/burrow rodents, tunnel system that connects the whole colony with storage spaces throughout

Design the landfill so that instead of having one giant pile where all the methane rises into the atmosphere, have several small mounds scattered so that the rising methane is spread out in smaller portions. Then feed pipes under each mound of the landfill (like the pipe system at Rockingham Co. Landfill) to collect the smaller portions of methane more efficiently than trying to control a giant mound’s worth of methane

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Trees that provide shade and habitat for birds and small animals

This design is intended to decrease the amount of methane that is released into the atmosphere and increase the efficiency of capturing the methane. The landfill would be enclosed in this compostable structure that would need to be sealed at the end of the life cycle. The trash then could decompose until the soil could be used again for another landfill.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): DNA arrangements

To sort non-organic and organic material, trash may be dumped into a sieve-like container so it can be separated. Different material decomposes at different rates and produce different amounts of methane. By combining alike material, like DNA organizes itself, methane can be captured more efficiently.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Capillary action of plants absorbing water (like flowers in a vase)

Instead of pushing all the methane to the bottom of the landfill to be collected and released at one point, this design collects and burns the methane at multiple points. The methane is still burned like the current system however collecting methane at multiple locations will potentially decrease the amount that could possibly be released into the atmosphere.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): plants use apoplast to move water along the call walls

Trash is put into containers resembling the cell shape with microscopic holes in which gas can travel through the outside of the trash containers

Biomimicry Aspect(s): ducks preen by coating feathers with an oil to keep water from their bottom layer of feathers

Protective oil barrier over landfill to keep water out to prevent leachate from forming. Second layer is a more rough, protective barrier.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): the weathering of rocks by the ocean to collect CO2

Artificial silicate (glass, ceramics, etc.) from landfills are positioned in the middle of the device which is comprised of a buoy,net, pump/filter, and container. The ocean’s chemicals weather the silicate which then creates carbonic acid which reactions with calcium to create solid calcium carbonate which can then be collected and removed. Once removed the LeChatelier’s Principle dictates that more CO2 will be collected by the ocean to balance the concentrations and therefore more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and cools the climate.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): replace the weathering of ice with the weathering of artificial silicate

If a buffer of other materials is put around icebergs then maybe it will get weathered instead of the iceberg and therefore preserve the integrity of the ice. This would prevent the addition of more water and ice to the oceans and thereby raising ocean levels and destroying coastal communities.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): The recrystallization of CO2 from the ice mantles in stars (mimicking living systems matter and energy flow optimization: abundant atomic elements)

CO2 ice is slowly grown at cryogenic temperatures as low as 8 K and with an ultrahigh vacuum, this could potentially be space since it is a high vacuum at low temperatures. Once the CO2 is frozen then it can be brought back to earth and then inserted into icebergs in order to increase their lifespan and potentially regenerate ice.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Chemical reactions of lithium peroxide and CO2 to create Li2CO3 and O2

On spaceships and submarines oxygen is used by people breathing and CO2 is released causing the people to need more O2. On spaceships lithium peroxide is used to react with the CO2 to create Li2CO3 and O2 which can then be breathed. This can be applied on Earth to capture CO2 in the climate instead of the spaceships.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): Various types of gills from tadpoles to lobsters utilize surface area to increase gas exchange.

The gas collection pipe system could mimic the structure of gills to promote higher levels of gas capture.

Biomimicry Aspect(s): In fish gills, oxygen is delivered in through one capillary and out another. It performs that gas exchange at different layers called filaments.

The gas collection system could be made up of vertical pipes with horizontal layers. One could be for vacuuming the landfill gas out and the other could be for sending air in.