Healing the Human Impact on Everest
Climbers on Mount Everest take away life-changing memories, remarkable images and adventurous friends from every corner of the Earth. They also leave behind human waste, which is not currently disposed of in a safe, clean, or sustainable manner. Last year, more than 26,000 pounds of untreated human waste accumulated from climbers and their support members at Mount Everest Base Camp. The environmental impact this practice has on the fragile environment of Mount Everest and the health risks to the local population is massive.
In order to preserve this mountain’s majestic beauty, action is required to implement a long-term sustainable solution that ensures the safe disposal of this increasing environmental and human health hazard. We believe our project is the answer.
Launched in 2010, Mount Everest Biogas Project has conceived, designed and tested an innovative solution, which will bring a wide range of environmental and economic benefits.
- Eliminate annual dumping of 26,000 lbs. of solid human waste at the teahouse village of Gorak Shep
- Lessen risk of water contamination by fecal coli form
- Reduce reliance on burning wood or yak dung for heating and resultant health risks
- Curtail deforestation of limited wood resources in the Khumbu valley
- Create local jobs during the construction and operations of the project
- Convert waste into a renewable natural gas fuel (methane) that will be made available to the local community for cooking and lighting
The Problem
Mount Everest serves as the ultimate challenge and lifelong goal for hundreds of expedition climbers each year. With decades of continued use and exploration, Everest Base Camp and the upper camps have become scarred by human impact. Human waste dumped in Gorak Shep has ballooned to 26,000 pounds annually, causing environmental degradation and posing severe risks to clean water sources.
High altitude and extremely cold temperatures at Everest Base Camp make natural decomposition processes impossible. This results in the accumulation of decades’ worth of harmful fecal matter accruing at an increasingly exponential rate, just as Mount Everest’s popularity for expedition opportunities escalates.
To maintain the region’s immaculate natural environment and to protect the watershed system the Sherpa people rely on for safe drinking water, a sustainable and reliable solution is required immediately.
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Our Solution
Working to help solve the Mount Everest waste problem, the Mount Everest Biogas Project has designed a new, 100% sustainable solution to address this increasingly detrimental problem: a first-of-its-kind solar-powered human waste biogas system. When constructed, the project will be the world’s highest altitude anaerobic digester with a unique twist: it will be the only biogas digester installed at extreme altitude fueled solely by human waste.
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Help Us Begin Construction by Donating today!
For seven years, our all-volunteer team has been designing a solution to clean up the human impact on Mount Everest. Our design is unique and ready for deployment. But, we can’t do it without you.
Please follow the link below to visit our donation page and donate today! Help us reach our $600,000 goal so we can implement, test, and operate this essential wastewater treatment solution. Don’t forget to check to see if your employer matches donations!
Donate Today!
Video Overview
Lakpa Rita Sherpa is a world renowned climber and mountain guide. He grew up near the Khumbu Valley and has found the time to make 17 trips to the summit of Everest. In this video Lakpa explains about the waste issues around Everest Base Camp, the effects they are having on the people who live there, and the solution we are working to implement.
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Current Progress
Due to the extreme environment at Gorak Shep, the development of a customized biodigester has involved multiple phases of research, prototyping and analysis to reach the current design. Please visit the Progress page for recent updates.
See Our Latest Updates
Mount Everest Biogas Project Wins Prestigious Mountain Protection Award from the UIAA
SEATTLE, WA (October 26, 2017) – Honored among a distinguished group of twenty-two nominees from around the world, the Mount Everest Biogas Project has won the 2017 Mountain Protection Award (MPA) for its visionary solution to the decades-long impact of human waste on Mount Everest, and other remote, high altitude, extreme climate locations.
“Every one of these proposals has the potential to make a difference in preserving and conserving the precious mountaineering so important to us. That we were honored for this award, this recognition is like a dream come true for the team,” beamed, Garry Porter, Mount Everest Biogas Project co-founder.
Google Visits Khumbu!
Google recently explored the homeland of the Sherpa: the beautiful Khumbu region and it’s towns. Visit their interactive web project and discover the places that made us fall in love with Nepal!
Explore
Nate’s Journal
Follow Nate’s steps as he goes from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu all the way to the remote settlement of Gorak Shep in order to do research on the feasibility of the biogas digester project.
Read Nate’s Travel Journal
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