Policy / Systems / Technology

December 22, 2011

 

Japanese University Grows Vegetables at Wastewater Treatment Plant

Keywords: Climate Change Environmental Technology Food Reduce / Reuse / Recycle University / Research institute 

Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) announced on September 29, 2011, that its project to establish a research and development center focused on the utilization of biomass, carbon dioxide, and heat has been selected for a grant designed to promote strategic science and technology from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The project will aim to verify the effectiveness of a food production cycle using waste and offer an advanced example of such a system, not only as way of combating climate change but also as something to be emulated by municipalities everywhere. TUT will receive financial aid from the ministry for five years from 2011 to carry out the project.

First, the project will treat sewage sludge and biomass together at the same sewerage treatment plant to produce high-quality fertilizer, liquid fertilizer, and biogas. The biogas will be used to generate electricity, while carbon dioxide and heat, byproducts of electricity generation, will be used to fuel the treatment system and adjacent plant and seaweed factories to demonstrate an effective way to use sustainable and renewable energy.

A reduction in the amount of incinerated sludge will lead to fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and thus is expected to directly contribute to climate change mitigation. After demonstrating the effectiveness of each process, including diversified waste treatment, establishment of a small-scale distributed power source, and improved food and fertilizer self-sufficiency, the project team will aim to present the system as a new solution for communities and recreate the system in towns across Japan.

Biogas from Sewage Sludge to Be Supplied as City Gas (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029684.html
New Technology Developed for Low-Cost, Clean Incineration of Biomass Waste (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028520.html

Posted: 2011/12/22 06:00:15 AM

Japanese  

Reference

Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) official website
http://www.tut.ac.jp/english/


 

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