Category: NZCC

SBS Lab Members Visit Net Zero Carbon Community Sites in Makassar Indonesia

Nathan Kurtz on

SBS Lab members Wangda Zuo, Leah Marucci, and Nathan Kurtz traveled to Makassar, Indonesia for a week-long field study as part of the Net Zero Carbon Community (NZCC) project. The team quickly learned that the project is having major snowball effects within the communities. Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels were installed in four locations across the city to allow the communities to reduce energy usage for their fish farms. In Indonesia, the utility grid is almost 80% comprised of fossil fuels, so reducing utility usage can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Additionally, from the energy savings, the communities can reduce their spending which they are immediately putting back into expanding to more fish tanks, and hydroponic systems.

This project has been going on for 6 months and all four installations across 3 sites are fully up and running with online monitoring that can be integrated with the city command center. Over these 6 months our tUS-Indonesian team comprising of Universitas Gadjah Madah (UGM), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and the City of Makassar has successfully selected sites and procured, installed, and commissioned all equipment. We are deeply thankful for the long-lasting collaborations with UGM and ITB. We are also greatly thankful for the generous support from the U.S. Department of State (DoS), National Science Foundation (NSF), City of Makassar, and Penn State College of Engineering.

Additional news posts can be found on the project webpage and Prof. Zuo’s LinkedIn post 1 and 2.

Professor Wangda Zuo Presents at the Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology, and Circular Innovation in Southeast Asia

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Lab Professor Wangda Zuo participated in a joint session at the “Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology and Circular Innovation in Southeast Asia: Smart Cities Innovation, Biotechnology, and Circularity” in Vientiane, Laos. He held this session with our Indonesian collaborators Rachmawan Budiarto from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Donny Koerniawan from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) about our Smart Garden Alley and Net Zero Carbon Community (NZCC) projects in Makassar, Indonesia. They presented on July 19, 2024. This symposium was a great opportunity to share ideas with our colleagues in the ASEAN region. It is great progress in renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture, and smart transportation being made by researchers and entrepreneurs.

SBS Lab Kicks Off New Collaborative Project With Indonesian Teams

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SBS lab conducted the kick-off meeting for our Net Zero Carbon Community (NZCC) Project. This is a continuation of the Smart Garden Alley Project. This new project is a collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder, Makassar City, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and Institut Teknologi Bandung. The project takes a holistic approach towards net zero carbon communities considering energy consumption, carbon emissions, community involvement, tourism, and local economies. Through the implementation of renewable energies in several communities, carbon emissions can be reduced and the community can thrive while living more sustainably. The collaboration with the city of Makassar shows how important the community-to-government relationship is for expanding net zero communities into net zero cities. We are excited to continue our collaborations with various institutions in Indonesia and look forward to working together on this project.