| Title | Evaluating sustainable energy strategies for a water utility |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 68077 |
| Authors | Zakkour, PD; Gochin, RJ; Lester, JN |
| Title | Evaluating sustainable energy strategies for a water utility |
| Year | 2002 |
| Published | Environmental Technology, 23, 7 |
| Abstract | Research suggests that political will to deliver improvements in the quality of surface water in the UK and across the EU, alongside measures to place tighter controls on the quality of biosolids applied to agricultural land, will augment the levels of energy used in sewage and sludge treatment. This coincides with increasing concerns over the use of fossil fuel derived energy sources and their potential to enhance the Earth's greenhouse effect and promote global climate change, creating a serious paradox for those responsible for managing the aquatic environment. However, previous research also suggests that novel technologies and practices could potentially mitigate the problem in hand. This paper describes the development of a model for estimating future energy use and CO2 emissions in the wastewater treatment sector, and outlines the results of different projections using incumbent and novel practices. Indications are that using incumbent approaches could augment CO2 emissions by 15-30% in the medium- to long-term, while loss of the agricultural sludge route and deployment of an incineration strategy could mean increases are of the order of 50-70%. Alternatively, the construction of a greater number of sludge treatment facilities, with greater biogas recovery, could reduce this burden to around -8 to +7% over the same period, while the realisation of the full potential an anaerobic pre-treatment process could lead to reductions of up to 16%. Nevertheless, some of the options will come at a higher cost then incumbents, and the potential for making the business case for these investments is explored. |
Similar Articles
| ID | Score | Article |
|---|---|---|
26164
|
Shi, ZN; Xing, K; Rameezdeen, R; Chow, CWK Current trends and future directions of global research on wastewater to energy: a bibliometric analysis and review(2024) | |
| 15379
|
Kehrein, P; van Loosdrecht, M; Osseweijer, P; Posada, J Exploring resource recovery potentials for the aerobic granular sludge process by mass and energy balances - energy, biopolymer and phosphorous recovery from municipal wastewater(2020)Environmental Science-Water Research & Technology, 6, 8 | |
| 28517
|
Ghimire, U; Sarpong, G; Gude, VG Transitioning Wastewater Treatment Plants toward Circular Economy and Energy Sustainability(2021)Acs Omega, 6.0, 18 | |
| 10099
|
Mancini, G; Luciano, A; Bolzonella, D; Fatone, F; Viotti, P; Fino, D A water-waste-energy nexus approach to bridge the sustainability gap in landfill-based waste management regions(2021) | |
| 13031
|
Santos, E; Albuquerque, A; Lisboa, I; Murray, P; Ermis, H Economic Assessment of Energy Consumption in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Applicability of Alternative Nature-Based Technologies in Portugal(2022)Water, 14.0, 13 | |
| 23127
|
Ijoma, GN; Mutungwazi, A; Mannie, T; Nurmahomed, W; Matambo, TS; Hildebrandt, D Addressing the water-energy nexus: A focus on the barriers and potentials of harnessing wastewater treatment processes for biogas production in Sub Saharan Africa(2022)Heliyon, 8, 5 | |
| 20650
|
Capodaglio, AG; Callegari, A Energy and resources recovery from excess sewage sludge: A holistic analysis of opportunities and strategies(2023) | |
| 15001
|
Shanmugam, K; Gadhamshetty, V; Tysklind, M; Bhattacharyya, D; Upadhyayula, VKK A sustainable performance assessment framework for circular management of municipal wastewater treatment plants(2022) | |
| 26535
|
Massara, TM; Komesli, OT; Sozudogru, O; Komesli, S; Katsou, E A Mini Review of the Techno-environmental Sustainability of Biological Processes for the Treatment of High Organic Content Industrial Wastewater Streams(2017)Waste And Biomass Valorization, 8, 5 | |
| 64204
|
Mancini, G; Lombardi, L; Luciano, A; Bolzonella, D; Viotti, P; Fino, D A reduction in global impacts through a waste-wastewater-energy nexus: A life cycle assessment(2024) |