Wastewater to Energy Technology Finds Investment
Posted by Lee Drever on Mon, Jul 04, 2011
Turning waste to energy solves two big problems for an industrial society. Upfront investment and operating costs are big hurdles to overcome for such a proposition but if these challenges can be met, the dividends are big for investors and the planet.
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ARDCorp’s Cow Power program hopes to kickstart anaerobic digestion technology in British Columbia this year, turning manure into energy, solving the problems of waste management and providing a source of clean power.
Israeli start-up, Emefcy is also hoping that their patented wastewater treatment technology will take hold in a big way, turning wastewater treatment from a huge energy drain to an electricity generator.
Emefcy’s technology uses naturally occurring bacteria in an electrogenic bioreactor to treat wastewater. The organic material in the waste produces power and treated water, transforming wastewater treatment from an energy-intensive, cost-intensive and carbon-intensive process, into an energy-generating and carbon-reducing process.
The benefits are both economic and environmental: Conventional wastewater treatment uses 2 percent of global power capacity (80,000 megawatts and 57,000,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide), costing $40 billion per year. Rather than using conventional energy-intensive aerobic processes or methane-producing anaerobic digestion to treat wastewater, Emefcy harvests renewable energy directly from the wastewater and feeds it to the power grid, enabling the energy-positive wastewater treatment plant. The primary initial applications are for wastewater treatment in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, with total market potential of US$10 billion annually.
Emefcy has caught the eye of Energy Technology Ventures – a GE-backed investment company focused on the development of clean energy technology. Their investment into Emefcy, represents their first foray into water-related technology.