The Grand Challengers Podcast Episode #47

Valuing food waste and greening – the experience in delivering technology and tools to close the carbon and water cycles

Guest: Wei-Shan Chen

July 24th, 2025

Episode Teaser

Introduction

“…Academia is changing rapidly, what will not change is that you have to solve a societal issue. That should always be the starting point…”

Wei-Shan Chen, also known as “Momo” is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Technology at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. After completing his studies in Materials Engineering, Momo pivoted towards the environmental sector to do his part in changing the many linear approaches to managing our resources, closing the loops on carbon and water through innovative technologies, tools and active stakeholder engagement. He has a keen interest in solving our global food waste crisis through more conscious resource recovery, reduction and recycling and in creating greener and more livable cities for the preferred future.

On today’s show, Momo and I discuss his different innovative approaches to closing the carbon cycle, from working with microbes and fungi in fuel cells to heating and food waste valorization. We touch upon his journey into urban blue-green infrastrucutures and rainwater harvesting and how his active engagement with stakeholders has evolved his perspective on environmental technology and tools to create a more nature-based, sustainable future.

Biography

Wei-Shan Chen, also known as “Momo”, is an Assistant Professor at Wageningen University whose research focuses on designing urban infrastructure transition pathways that facilitate circular resource management in urban environments. He combines biotechnology insights and urban digital twins to simulate the implementation of circular technologies and the required infrastructure transitions, addressing three key resource streams: urban rainwater reuse, domestic food waste valorization, and commodity plastic recycling through AMS projects like RainOasis and Bin2Bean. In addition to his research, he is committed to educating the next generation of urban engineers and technologists, mentoring postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, Engineering Doctorate students, and Master’s thesis students who are tackling urban challenges.

A concrete example of his work is the BGIS tool his team created for the city of Amsterdam to plan nature-based solutions at high spatial resolution in urban spaces, maximizing their multifunctionality. BGIS stands for blue-green infrastructure and geo-information systems, and the tool not only facilitates NbS planning but also supports the design of economically viable implementation plans when aligned with subsurface urban infrastructure renovation. He believes that cities should and could plan their urban transitions in a more comprehensive and adaptive way to prepare for highly dynamic climate and global changes, and he has found this shared vision in Amsterdam, where he makes concrete steps forward with inspiring stakeholders.

Resources Related to the Episode

  • I reference Martijn Kuller, who’s been on the show in Episode 3 and the Mini-Series. Check out his episodes to see what he’s up to in similar research areas.
  • A collection of different Dutch cuisine [Wikipedia] [Top 10 List from LeShuttle]
  • All about Rugby
  • Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry [About TSMC] [Statistics]
  • Organic Chemistry 101 – An interactive site for the essential concepts of organic chemistry
  • The Carbon Cycle, Water Cycle and Nutrient Cycle
  • Momo’s work on Plant Microbial Fuel Cells:
    • Helder, M., Chen, W.S., Van Der Harst, E.J., Strik, D.P., Hamelers, H.B.V., Buisman, C.J. and Potting, J., 2013. Electricity production with living plants on a green roof: environmental performance of the plant‐microbial fuel cell. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 7(1), pp.52-64. [Link]
    • Tongphanpharn, N., Guan, C.Y., Chen, W.S., Chang, C.C. and Yu, C.P., 2023. Evaluation of long-term performance of plant microbial fuel cells using agricultural plants under the controlled environment. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 25(2), pp.633-644. [Link]
  • Momo also applied the same technology in sewer systems, we didn’t cover it on the episode, but in case you’re interested: Sun, Y., Ter Heijne, A., Rijnaarts, H. and Chen, W.S., 2022. The effect of anode potential on electrogenesis, methanogenesis and sulfidogenesis in a simulated sewer condition. Water research, 226, p.119229. [Link]
  • The spinoff company Plant-E, harnessing energy from plants
  • Momo’s work on biological wood oxidation for heating
    • Fan, S., Sun, Y., Ter Heijne, A., Chen, W.S. and Buisman, C.J., 2020. Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and pH on biological wood oxidation at 42° C. Science of the Total Environment, 726, p.138569. [Link]
    • Fan, S., Li, A., ter Heijne, A., Buisman, C.J. and Chen, W.S., 2021. Heat potential, generation, recovery and utilization from composting: A review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 175, p.105850. [Link]
    • Li, A., Natonek, V., van Erven, G., Buisman, C.J. and Chen, W.S., 2024. Effect of substrate size reduction and periodic nutrient supplementation on biological wood oxidation. Journal of Environmental Management, 370, p.123012. [Link]
  • Food waste valorization:
  • Momo’s Work on Food Waste Valorization:
    • Chen, W.S., Strik, D.P., Buisman, C.J. and Kroeze, C., 2017. Production of caproic acid from mixed organic waste: an environmental life cycle perspective. Environmental science & technology, 51(12), pp.7159-7168. [Link]
    • Liu, J., Nauta, J., van Eekert, M.H., Chen, W.S. and Buisman, C.J., 2023. Integrated life cycle assessment of biotreatment and agricultural use of domestic organic residues: Environmental benefits, trade-offs, and impacts on soil application. Science of the Total Environment, 897, p.165372. [Link]
    • The comparison between Australia, China and The Netherlands: Liu, J., de Haan, J., Rey, I.F.M., Bai, Z., Chen, W.S., van Eekert, M.H. and Buisman, C.J., 2023. Potential reuse of domestic organic residues as soil organic amendment in the current waste management system in Australia, China, and The Netherlands. Journal of Environmental Management, 344, p.118618. [Link]
    • Ishfaq, M., Wang, Y., Xu, J., Hassan, M.U., Yuan, H., Liu, L., He, B., Ejaz, I., White, P.J., Cakmak, I. and Chen, W.S., 2023. Improvement of nutritional quality of food crops with fertilizer: a global meta-analysis. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 43(6), p.74. [Link]
    • Wei, Y., Rodriguez-Illera, M., Guo, X., Vollebregt, M., Li, X., Rijnaarts, H.H. and Chen, W.S., 2024. The complexities of decision-making in food waste valorization: A critical review. J. Environ. Manag, 359, p.120989. [Link]
  • The Bin2Bean Project in Amsterdam and catalogue of different kitchen grinders
  • Momo’s work on Blue-Green Infrastructures:
    • Jia, H., Hu, J., Fu, D. and Chen, W.S., 2024. Urban Runoff Control and Sponge City Construction: Important Topics. Water, 16(3), p.497. [Link]
    • The BGIS Tool: Alves, A., van Opstal, C., Keijzer, N., Sutton, N. and Chen, W.S., 2024. Planning the multifunctionality of nature-based solutions in urban spaces. Cities, 146, p.104751. [Link]
  • We’ve covered biodiversity previously on Episode 14 with Janine Bolliger, many of the concepts mentioned here were also discused with Janine, so check out her episode for more details.
  • The MultiGreen Project [Leiden University page]
    • The city of Breda in The Netherlands, known as the garden city of The Netherlands
    • The resistance concept for modelling biodiversity, known as Circuit Theory: McRae, B.H., Dickson, B.G., Keitt, T.H. and Shah, V.B., 2008. Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation. Ecology, 89(10), pp.2712-2724. [Link]
  • The RainOasis Project page, stay tuned for updates
  • The Eisenhower Matrix [Article from Asana] [ToDoist Article] – coincidentally it was on the whiteboard in the room we were recording at Leiden University
  • If you haven’t checked out the NotebookLM Mini-Series, do check it out! Vibe-coding was discussed on Episode 5.

Episode Chapters

(Chapters are embedded in the episode for quick access, click this to expand and view all chapters and time stamps)
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 1:59 Guest Intro and the mystery behind the name Momo
  • 5:21 Tracing Momo’s steps from materials in Taiwan to Wageningen
  • 11:29 Closing the carbon cycle with microbial fuel cells
  • 15:28 Momo’s work in reducing fossil fuel use – it gets technical
  • 17:21 Retrieving carbon from waste
  • 21:20 Valuing and closing the loop on food waste
  • 32:04 How to deal with the composition of food waste?
  • 35:21 The Bin2Bean Project in Amsterdam
  • 38:38 Going into the Water cycle for Carbon and Food
  • 42:28 Momo’s venture into BGI Tools
  • 49:04 Modelling the planning for biodiversity
  • 56:09 Carbon and Water, what next?
  • 58:23 Q&A Start
  • 58:37 What does innovation mean to you?
  • 1:01:16 Key event, book, person
  • 1:03:11 Time Management
  • 1:05:27 Favourite childhood memory
  • 1:08:58 Biggest challenge to date
  • 1:10:57 Advice for young researchers
  • 1:12:38 What would you most like to be remembered for?
  • 1:14:11 Where can people find you?
  • 1:15:06 Final Message
  • 1:15:46 Outro

Connect with Wei-Shan Chen

Related Episodes

Episode #10 – Daniele la Cecilia
Backyard balsamic vinegar, a pizza oven and technological progress in agriculture
(Related Topics: soil, agriculture, food)
Episode #13 – Veljko Prodanovic
Going vertical in a green horizontal world and promoting urban water and nature co-design
(Related Topics: blue-green infrastructures, stakeholders, design)
Episode #14 – Janine Bolliger
Lights, Camera, GPS and Action around biodiversity enhancement in human-dominated landscapes
(Related Topics: biodiversity, ecological connectivity)
Episode #21 – Danielle Dagenais
The paradox of nature – process and parts and its implications for green infrastructure
(Related Topics: biodiversity, nature, blue-green infrastructures)

Credits