Researchers Working to Turn Sludge Into Renewable Energy

A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute received a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to create renewable fuel from sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment that creates greenhouse gases and water pollution when dumped into landfills. With the U.S. EPA reporting that Americans alone are putting more than 2 billion pounds of sewage sludge into landfills every year, researchers see an opportunity to keep much of that sludge out of landfills and use it to create energy, power the wastewater treatment process and potentially supplement municipalities’ power grids. Michael Timko, associate professor of chemical engineering and principal investigator