#860: Dr Nicholas Ashbolt 2017: Blackwater Energy and Nutrient Recovery

, , ,

Download MP3 Link

Dr. Nicholas Ashbolt holds the Alberta Innovates Translational  Health Chair in Water  at the University of Alberta.

His research indicates there would be great benefits to the economy, public health and the environment if we were to adopt a vacuum flush sewer system.

This would allow for the separation of greywater and blackwater, and also the recovery of imbedded energy from the residual waste.

DR NICHOLAS ASHBOLT:  We can then recover the energy from that blackwater.   If we connect it to the kitchens, for example, the food residuals, it is a far more efficient way of recovering the embedded energy in that food and fecal residual whichcan supply more than total amount of energy used to treat all drinking and waste water services in a community.   And it even gets better, that the energy residual, after we’ve stripped out the energy in the form of methane, we’re left with ammonium and phosphorus   We can actually precipitate those because they’re at a higher concentration and produce a fertilizer and turn those nutrients back out to agriculture where they came from in the first place. 


Dr Ashbolt says blackwater refers to  toilet and kitchen waste.  Greywater is all the other household water .

Thanks today to ALBERTA INNOVATES

Learn more at INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY.com

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

Guest

,

, , , ,

Sponsor

Alberta Innovates

Alberta Innovates is a provincially funded Corporation with a mandate to deliver 21st century solutions for the most compelling challenges facing Albertans. We do this by building on our province’s research and technology development strengths in the core sectors of health, environment, energy, food and fibre and platforms such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and omics. We are working with our partners to diversify Alberta’s economy, improve our environmental performance and enhance our well-being through research and innovation. 

The Alberta Innovates system has roots stretching back almost 90 years

In March, 2016 the consolidation of Alberta Innovates was announced and on November 1, a single, integrated innovation powerhouse, Alberta Innovates, was formed. Two applied research subsidiaries – Innotech Alberta and C-Fer Technologies –  serve public and private sector interests.

The Alberta Innovates system was first created in January 2010, as part of an overall innovation framework developed within the Alberta Research and Innovation Act. At that time, four corporations were established:

  • Bio Solutions
  • Energy and Environment Solutions
  • Health Solutions
  • Technology Futures.

The Alberta Innovates system has a 90-year legacy. Our expertise is built on the successes of:

  • Alberta Institute for Agriculture
  • Forestry and the Environment
  • Alberta Agricultural Research Institute
  • Alberta Forestry Research Institute
  • Alberta Life Sciences Institute
  • Alberta Ingenuity
  • Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
  • Alberta Research Council
  • iCORE
  • nanoAlberta
  • Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI)
  • Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI)
  • Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA).

 

Program Date: 2017-04-11