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

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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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Rani, A., Snyder, S. W., Kim, H., Lei, Z., & Pan, S. Y. (2022, December 1). Pathways to a net-zero-carbon water sector through energy-extracting wastewater technologies. Npj Clean Water. Nature Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-022-00197-8

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