EVEN Prof. Jason Ren uses wastewater treatment to capture CO2 and produce energy
Cleaning up municipal and industrial wastewater can be dirty business, but engineers at the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä have developed an innovative wastewater treatment process that not only mitigates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but actively captures greenhouse gases as well.
The treatment method, known as Microbial Electrolytic Carbon Capture (MECC), purifies wastewater in an environmentally-friendly fashion by using an electrochemical reaction that absorbs more CO2 than it releases while creating renewable energy in the process.
"This energy-positive, carbon-negative method could potentially contain huge benefits for a number of emission-heavy industries," said Zhiyong Jason Ren, an associate professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at CU-Boulder and senior author of the new study, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.