Bacteria + food waste + sludge = energy. Amazing, right? Singapore may be a tiny nation with no natural resources, but it sure knows how to make use of whatever it has to be self-sufficient.
According to Channel NewsAsia, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and renewable energy company Anaergia announced on Wednesday a new demonstration facility that will convert up to 40 tonnes of food waste from the Clementi district and used water sludge from the Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant daily into biogas to generate electricity. This 2,000 square metre demonstration plant will be completed in September 2015.
Used water treatment plants in Singapore generate 20 to 25 percent of their energy from biogas produced from sludge alone, whereas the addition of food waste could potentially increase energy production to 50 percent of the plant’s needs, which could possibly allow the plant to achieve energy self-sufficiency, said PUB’s Chief Technology Officer Harry Seah.
If successful, the technology could be implemented in future plants such as the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant. See, waste matters.
Photo: Aske Holst via Flickr
