Worcester Polytechnic Institute Researchers Working to Turn Toxic Sewage Sludge into Renewable Energy
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Research Receives $2M from DOE to Make Wastewater Treatment Energy Neutral and Keep Billions of Pounds of Sludge Out of Landfills
Worcester Polytechnic Institute PhD candidate Heather LeClerc (foreground) and WPI PhD student David Kenney work together to seal and prepare the reactor used to produce bio-oil from toxic sludge.
“We’re taking something that is a huge energy consumer and turning it into an energy producer. -Michael TimkoAssociate professor of chemical engineering at WPI WORCESTER, Mass. (PRWEB) May 03, 2021 A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) received a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to create renewable fuel from sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment that creates greenhouse gases and water pollution when dump
Renewable Feed, New Technology and C2C Strategies Offer Opportunities for Refiners
The TBEC series has been added to this company’s range…
By Scott Jenkins |
May 1, 2021
After a rough past year, petroleum refineries are seeking profit opportunities through the use of renewable feedstocks, such as vegetable oils and waste fats, as well as with new alkylation technologies and by increasing “crude-to-chemicals” (C2C) approaches
The past 18 months have generally been extraordinarily challenging for the world’s petroleum refineries, as pandemic-related restrictions dramatically reduced demand for refinery products and cut refinery utilization rates. Even with demand for transportation fuels returning as the world economy begins to emerge from the pandemic, long-term growth in gasoline and diesel fuel demand is not expected. Flat fuel demand growth, coupled with a broader trend toward decarbonizing the energy sector and increasing investment tied to environmental, social an
Offshore Wind Data Release Propels Wind Prospecting
NREL has released several new offshore wind data sets that represent 20-year time spans. Using state-of-the-art modeling tools and sophisticated resource assessment technologies, these updated data sets provide wind energy developers, consultants, and researchers access to high-quality wind resource information that can inform future offshore wind energy siting decisions and research.
Floating lidars, such as this U.S. Department of Energy wind resource characterization buoy managed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, collect wind speed and direction measurements up to 250 meters from the surface of the ocean. These measurements, combined with satellite-based measurements of near-surface U.S. offshore wind speeds, help
Targeted News Service
WASHINGTON, April 29 The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a 60-page report dated January 2021 entitled: Effect of Hyperloop Technologies on the Electric Grid and Transportation Energy .
Executive Summary
Hyperloop technology, initially proposed in 2013 as an innovative means for intermediate-range or intercity travel, is now being developed by several companies. Proponents point to potential benefits for both passenger travel and freight transport, including time-savings, convenience, quality of service and, in some cases, increased energy efficiency. Because the system is powered by electricity, its interface with the grid may require strategies that include energy storage. The added infrastructure, in some cases, may present opportunities for grid-wide system benefits from integrating hyperloop systems with variable energy resources.
DOE report highlights opportunities of hybrid energy systems
The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a new report, Hybrid Energy Systems: Opportunities for Coordinated Research, highlighting innovative opportunities to spur joint research on hybrid energy systems (HES). These opportunities could drive the production of valuable fuels, chemicals, and products, provide greater cost savings, increase grid flexibility, and enhance environmental performance across a range of DOE-funded technologies.
For the report, the authors defined HES as systems involving multiple energy generation, storage, and/or conversion technologies that are integrated through an overarching control framework or physically to achieve cost savings and enhanced capabilities, value, efficiency, or environmental performance compared to the independent alternatives.