Introduction

   Throughout time there has been a constant struggle between environmental protection and economic concerns.  More times than not, economic savings outweigh the benefits of conservational efforts and the environment suffers.  However, as the human race expands problems associated with industrialization, caused by environmental apathy, can no longer be ignored.  Difficulties with air quality regulation, waste disposal, and increased consumption of natural resources all become more evident as the demands of the population increase.  As the technological age reaches a fever pitch how will our society decide to handle these crises?

   In the past wastewater treatment has been employed as a necessary means of preventing the spread of disease and implementing health standards. Due to the recent concerns brought about by the geometric population increase and the contamination of invaluable resources such as air and water, scientists have ardently pursued advances in technology with the goal of renovating the traditional sewage treatment process.

   The original objective of this project was to combine existing biomass digestion systems with current sewage treatment methods, creating a futuristic integration of outdated technologies. Although innovative, it was soon discovered that this approach had already been implemented in many conventional plants. At that point in time, the project's emphasis was shifted from intertwining technologies, to expanding the capacity of treatment plants to meet the demands of the growing populous in densely populated areas where there is a growing problem associated with the limited quantity of land available for future expansion. This new design would confine all of the components requisite to modern wastewater plants into a single, silo-like structure.

   As the population of cities increases and the amount of available land decreases, the cost of property will increase proportionately. Our project, Biomass: A Vertical Solution, addresses these problems; more specifically, the current sprawling design of wastewater treatment facilities, the negative environmental consequences of sludge disposal, and the release of harmful gas emissions. For these reasons, we have decided that the most relevant National Critical Technology for this project was "Environmental Quality" with a technical application of "Pollution Control" and an emphasis on "Wastewater Management".