Pathways to a net-zero-carbon water sector through energy-extracting wastewater technologies

Aishwarya Rani; Seth W. Snyder; Hyunook Kim; Zhongfang Lei; Shu Yuan Pan

doi:10.1038/s41545-022-00197-8

Pathways to a net-zero-carbon water sector through energy-extracting wastewater technologies

Aishwarya Rani, Seth W. Snyder, Hyunook Kim, Zhongfang Lei, Shu Yuan Pan

School of Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

The energy-consuming and carbon-intensive wastewater treatment plants could become significant energy producers and recycled organic and metallic material generators, thereby contributing to broad sustainable development goals, the circular economy, and the water-energy-sanitation-food-carbon nexus. This review provides an overview of the waste(water)-based energy-extracting technologies, their engineering performance, techno-economic feasibility, and environmental benefits. Here, we propose four crucial strategies to achieve net-zero carbon along with energy sufficiency in the water sector, including (1) improvement in process energy efficiency; (2) maximizing on-site renewable capacities and biogas upgrading; (3) harvesting energy from treated effluent; (4) a new paradigm for decentralized water-energy supply units.

Original language	English
Article number	49
Journal	npj Clean Water
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-022-00197-8
State	Published - Dec 2022

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abstract = "The energy-consuming and carbon-intensive wastewater treatment plants could become significant energy producers and recycled organic and metallic material generators, thereby contributing to broad sustainable development goals, the circular economy, and the water-energy-sanitation-food-carbon nexus. This review provides an overview of the waste(water)-based energy-extracting technologies, their engineering performance, techno-economic feasibility, and environmental benefits. Here, we propose four crucial strategies to achieve net-zero carbon along with energy sufficiency in the water sector, including (1) improvement in process energy efficiency; (2) maximizing on-site renewable capacities and biogas upgrading; (3) harvesting energy from treated effluent; (4) a new paradigm for decentralized water-energy supply units.",

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AU - Lei, Zhongfang

AU - Pan, Shu Yuan

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AB - The energy-consuming and carbon-intensive wastewater treatment plants could become significant energy producers and recycled organic and metallic material generators, thereby contributing to broad sustainable development goals, the circular economy, and the water-energy-sanitation-food-carbon nexus. This review provides an overview of the waste(water)-based energy-extracting technologies, their engineering performance, techno-economic feasibility, and environmental benefits. Here, we propose four crucial strategies to achieve net-zero carbon along with energy sufficiency in the water sector, including (1) improvement in process energy efficiency; (2) maximizing on-site renewable capacities and biogas upgrading; (3) harvesting energy from treated effluent; (4) a new paradigm for decentralized water-energy supply units.

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Pathways to a net-zero-carbon water sector through energy-extracting wastewater technologies

Abstract

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