Agro-Industry Partnership Opportunity

Key Facts:

1. Between 2000 and 2014, biogas generation increased at an annualized rate of 15% in Europe and Asia, but in the Americas, the growth rate was only 3.4% over the same period. (World Bioenergy Association, 2017)

2. Wastewater treatment currently consumes about 3% of US electrical supply, yet anaerobic treatment technology has the potential to transform wastewater treatment into a net energy producer by producing biogas or other forms of renewable energy (McCarty, Bae and Lim, 2011)

3. Kansas State University has just acquired a state-of-the-art anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) pilot plant, and the only university in the US to have such a research capability. This pilot plant attained 70% energy sufficiency in preliminary testing (Evans et al., 2017)

4. The team has received a grant to engage Kansas stakeholders on anaerobic technology

Anaerobic digestion/biogas schematic

Anaerobic pre-treatment of wastewater from agro-industry plants has the potential to:

• Generate biogas, a valuable renewable energy commodity

• Reduce wastewater discharge costs

• Reduce solid waste disposal costs

• Reduce risks of wastewater fines and penalties

• Recover water for plant processes

• Recover nitrogen and phosphorus for agricultural use

• Improve corporate sustainability profiles

Partnership Opportunities:

• Find out about advanced wastewater treatment using anaerobic technology

• Be interviewed to share thoughts on the opportunities and constraints related to implementing anaerobic technology

• Have a case study prepared, at no cost or obligation, on how anaerobic technology could be used to pre-treat your wastewater discharge