Research developments

Water groups to evaluate biosolids-to-energy technology

The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), both based in Alexandria, Virginia, have launched three new projects under the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) program. LIFT is a joint WERF/WEF initiative designed to help move innovation into practice in the water quality sector.

The first project, Genifuel Hydrothermal Processing Bench Scale Technology Evaluation (LIFT6T14), will evaluate a biosolids-to-energy technology. The project is funded by WERF, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and approximately 10 utilities participating in the LIFT program. The U.S. Department of Energy is also providing in-kind support. Hydrothermal processing converts organic material into biocrude oil, natural gas or both with more than 99 percent conversion of organics. The technology is designed for wet feedstocks and has a high net energy yield, has only been minimally tested with sewage sludge or biosolids.

The next project, Creating the Space to Innovate (LIFT8C14), is co-funded by WERF and WEF to address impediments and promote incentives to the adoption of innovative technologies and practices. This project seeks to identify major influences to innovation in the water utility sector; identify measures to manage or share risk by providing regulatory space for innovation through permit flexibility in compliance schedules or different kinds of permits; and address perceived permitting challenges in some states.

WERF has also awarded The Canton Group with a contract to develop a LIFT Database (LIFT2R14) to support new technology innovation, collaboration and implementation for the water sector. The platform will help identify and deliver information on innovative water technologies, facilitate matchmaking and collaboration for speeding innovation into practice, provide data and results from demonstrations, and more. The development of the platform is supported in part with funding from the EPA.

The Water Environment Research Foundation is an independent research organization dedicated to wastewater and stormwater issues, and the Water Environment Federation is a not-for-profit organization of 36,000 members and 75 affiliated associations representing water quality professionals around the world.

Routledge publishes second edition of biochar reference book

Routledge, a New York City-based publishing company, has published the second edition of its comprehensive biochar book titled Biochar for Environmental Management: Science, Technology and Implementation. The book remains the most comprehensive collection of current knowledge of biochar and a go-to reference in the field, according to the publisher.

The publisher notes that the first edition of the book, published in 2009, was the definitive work on reviewing the expanding research literature on the topic. Since then, the rate of research activity has increased at least ten-fold, and biochar products are now commercially available as soil amendments, Routledge notes.

The recently published second edition, edited by Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph, includes updates as well as additional chapters on environmental risk assessment; new uses of biochar in composting and potting mixes; a new and controversial field of studying the effects of biochar on soil carbon cycles; traditional use with recent discoveries about biochar; changes in water availability and soil water dynamics; and sustainability and certification. The book represents the most comprehensive compilation of current knowledge on all aspects of biochar, the company says in a press release.

Biochar is the carbon-rich product that occurs when biomass is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its persistence in soil and nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and can be used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with potentially major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production also can be combined with bioenergy production through the use of gases from pyrolysis.

Tim Flannery, climate change activist and author of The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change, says “With its careful evaluation of every aspect of biochar, this book represents a cornerstone of our future global sustainability.”

More information is available at www.routledge.com/u/routledge/BiocharPress.