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Clean energy production from industrial wastewater
In the current energy climate, we can
no longer afford to think of wastewater as waste. Wastewater is a potential feedstock of value, containing nutrient- and energy-dense compounds. Without technologies to efficiently extract that value, however, wastewater will remain
a waste. CEGE faculty and students have been developing a novel composite fermentative membrane technology
that can be used to extract energy from wastewater while simultaneously treating that wastewater. Acetogenic bacteria produce hydrogen via the fermentation of carbohydrates, organic acids, and alcohols, the same compounds found
in wastewater. This special membrane system facilitates hydrogen production and collection from waste. [80]
