Representatives from the energy, water and wastewater sectors met in Chicago last week to discuss the future of renewable energy during the Water Environment Federation conference on Energy and Water 2011: Efficiency, Generation, Management, and Climate Impacts. Attendees explored avenues for increasing energy efficiency in the water and wastewater sectors, including the broader implications for climate change and adaptation for the water environment.
“On the surface, energy and water may seem to be separate entities, but are actually deeply connected,” said WEF executive director Jeff Eger. “Municipal water and wastewater treatment systems are among the most energy-intensive facilities but have excellent potential to be net energy producers. In fact, it is through its use of energy that the water sector has its greatest opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate a major source of climate change.”
In support of this effort, representatives from several utilities shared their plans for using self-generated energy for their operations, as well as the potential for returning surplus energy to the grid. Case studies were presented from the East Bay Municipal Utility District in California, the Gloversville-Johnstown Wastewater Treatment Plant in New York, and the Strauss Wastewater Treatment Plant in Austria.
Patrick Lucey, senior aquatic ecologist at Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting, gave the keynote address, sharing insights about the financial self-funding capability of Integrated Resource Management (IRM). IRM focuses on integrating water, wastewater, energy, and solid waste into a holistic resource management system.
“This conference offered a unique demonstration of the commitment of two crucial municipal sectors to address the urgent need for a new design framework for strategic municipal infrastructure and its asset management, “ said Lucey.
“There was broad agreement that this new framework must be based upon a ‘design with nature’ approach that will lead to a closed-loop resource recovery and revenue generating system that will provide significant taxpayer relief and enhanced energy and water security, while yielding significant GHG emission reductions.”
Other highlights included focused discussions on topics such as the need for collaboration to meet water demands by the electric power industry; the latest research in generating biofuels from algae, advances in biogas production from wastewater solids, micro-hydropower, best practices in energy conservation at treatment plants, and the pursuit of a multi-organization approach to integrate water and energy policy initiatives.
Conference sponsor ImagineH20, a national non-profit that aims to inspire and empower people to turn water challenges into opportunities, used the conference to present its second annual Water-Energy Nexus Prize. Winners were Hydrovolt for its new hydropower technology that taps renewable energy from water currents in canals and channels around the world, and Black Gold Biofuels, whose system converts fats, oils and greases into biodiesel.
WEF is developing a position statement that will call for energy generated from water/wastewater treatment plants to be recognized as green energy.
