What problem is being addressed?

Amsterdam has greatly reduced their dependency on fossil fuels, and eliminated the flow of waste into the landfills, allowing them to both produce and consume more responsibly.

What is their innovative solution

• Action: The construction of a power plant powered that runs on solid waste has become a new major source of energy for the Netherlands. The plant burns solid waste, and creates enough electricity to run 320,000 houses, and the heat produced from burning the waste is used for heating households.
• People / Partnerships: The power plant is owned and operated by AEB Holding Inc. which is a corporation that has 100% of its shares owned by the city of Amsterdam. The creation of this power plant required the work of varying levels of governance, private corporations, and public support.
• Resources: The funding for a plant like this would depend on the ownership of the power plant, but would likely be a joint effort of private investors and government money.

How can this be applied to Meadville?

While the construction of a waste burning power plant is by no means a simple undertaking, Meadville could stand to benefit from the jobs that this type of industry creates. While creating jobs and helping to grow the local economy, the energy produced by the power plant would provide people with a more sustainable alternative to the coal and oil upon which we currently rely.

http://www.aebamsterdam.com/