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 22nd, 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

  • …show notes

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

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Credits