What is it about?
Wastewater treatment can be costly and energy-intensive. Pseudoscillatoria coralii, a type of algae cleans wastewater by removing nearly all sludge and reducing harmful pollutants. Once the water is cleaned, the algae is turned into clean energy using pyrolysis - essentially heating it at high temperatures without oxygen, converting it into biofuel. This method is exciting because it not only purifies water efficiently but also produces renewable energy, helping reduce waste and carbon emissions. By combining algae-based water purification with energy recovery, this research paves the way for a greener future.
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Why is it important?
Managing wastewater and sludge is costly and environmentally challenging. This work presents a new, sustainable solution - using algae to purify water and then converting that same algae into biofuel. * Pseudoscillatoria coralii removes 99.99% of sludge in just three days, far quicker than traditional methods. * The algae is transformed into biofuel with 76–79% efficiency, offering a carbon-neutral energy source. * AI-powered models optimize pyrolysis, enabling a sustainable, waste-to-energy process. By combining wastewater treatment with energy production, we make waste a valuable resource, helping cities tackle pollution while producing clean energy.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Transforming sludge-containing urban wastewater to clean energy and biochemicals via an algae-based carbon-neutral pyrolytic pathway, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Energy, June 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137030.
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