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| Wastes Matters: New Method can Turn Wastewater Treatment Plant into Energy Generator |
This New Method can Turn Wastewater Treatment Plant into Energy Generator
A new study from Spain suggests human waste can be
transformed into clean energy — scientists have worked upon a type of bacteria (purple)
that can change waste into hydrogen gas for energy fabrication. The
amount of waste human generates today is thrice of what we generated in 1960.
That's equally horrific to the fact that the United States is rewarded as
the highest amount of waste generator per person.
A substantial disadvantage of wastewater treatment plants is their carbon footprint.This new method can lead to be a game changer in the waste management industry, turning everyday human waste into clean source of fuel.
A substantial disadvantage of wastewater treatment plants is their carbon footprint.This new method can lead to be a game changer in the waste management industry, turning everyday human waste into clean source of fuel.
This new method uses electrical currents and purple bacteria to
take advantage of the organic materials we flush every day. Purple bacteria belongs to most diverse
group of bacteria and they are phototropic means they use
photosynthesis, but unlike
plants and algae, their source of metabolism is infrared light, in contrast with the visible light that green plants require.
"The main feature of these fascinating organisms is their versatile metabolism," says lead author of the study, Daniel Puyol of Spain’s King Juan Carlos University, in an interview with ReserachGate.
"The main feature of these fascinating organisms is their versatile metabolism," says lead author of the study, Daniel Puyol of Spain’s King Juan Carlos University, in an interview with ReserachGate.
Purple bacteria upon manipulation of temperature, light intensity, and the surrounding organics and nutrients, yields different
results that acted as the foundations of Puyol’s team research. They decided
to supplement an external electric current and this idea originated from the
bioelectrochemical system of purple bacteria.
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| Purple Bacteria Credit: Wikimedia |
“All living beings have to
maintain an equilibrium, which microbiologists and biotechnologists call
homeostasis” says Puyol when asked about production of hydrogen. “Purple
bacteria has the problem of excess electrons from their metabolism. One way of
releasing this excess is through carbon dioxide fixation, like plants do. The
other one is the release of electrons as hydrogen gas.”
"Waste composition plays a key role on
the ability of purple bacteria to produce hydrogen," Puyol says. "The
process is strongly inhibited in the presence of ammonium, which mainly comes
from proteins in waste. We have to be completely sure that the ammonium is
eliminated prior to the process, so a diet low in proteins would potentially
help to produce more hydrogen more easily.
"This demonstrates that purple bacteria
can be used to recover valuable biofuel from organics typically found in
wastewater - malic acid and sodium glutamate - with a low carbon
footprint," say co-author of the study Abraham Esteve-Núñez of University
of Alcalá, Spain.
Puyol sees a future with the resultant bio-fuel where
his team could change the wastewater treatment plant into a real bio refinery.
He guesses that a medium-size wastewater treatment plant using hydrogen gas
manufactured by this process could "theoretically yield energy for 43-107
houses."
“Our preliminary findings
indicate that we are able to tune the metabolism of purple phototrophic
bacteria to increase carbon dioxide fixation, while maintaining the same
hydrogen productivity. This essentially means zero carbon footprint. We have
recently obtained funding to design the process and patent the technology” informs
Puyol about team’s findings.
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“With the technology demonstrated at lab-scale, we will try to convince the water sector about the feasibility of our technology. We have close contact with some water companies that would be interested.” speaks Puyol about its practical applications.
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“With the technology demonstrated at lab-scale, we will try to convince the water sector about the feasibility of our technology. We have close contact with some water companies that would be interested.” speaks Puyol about its practical applications.
"We are trying to do what nature has
been being doing for millions of years. Nature, in its wisdom, has selected
photosynthesis as a mechanism for these transformations. We are only
accelerating them."
Source: Researchgate.com
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