US majors target Israeli wastewater-to-electricity technology

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http://www.theengineer.co.uk/us-majors-target-israeli-wastewater-to-electricity-technology/1009663.article

US majors target Israeli wastewater-to-electricity technology

15 August 2011 | Updated: 15 August 2011 1:40 pm

Caesarea, Israel – Energy Technology Ventures – a joint venture between GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips joint venture – is providing capital to commercialise Israeli company Emefcy Ltd’s technology which uses naturally occurring bacteria in an electrogenic bioreactor to treat wastewater.

The organic material in the waste produces power and treated water, transforming wastewater treatment from an energy-intensive, cost-intensive and carbon-intensive process, into an energy-generating and carbon-reducing process.

Rather than using conventional energy-intensive aerobic processes or methane-producing anaerobic digestion to treat wastewater, Emefcy harvests renewable energy directly from the wastewater and feeds it to the power grid, enabling the energy-positive wastewater treatment plant.

According to the company, the primary initial applications are for wastewater treatment in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, with total market potential of US$10 billion annually.

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