Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 10;742:140580. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140580. Epub 2020 Jul 1.
Decarbonisation of all sectors of the economy is required if humanity will meet the Paris Agreement. Emissions from the electricity sector have fallen considerably in the past 10 years, however, other sectors of the economy have not been able to keep pace due to their reliance on natural gas. Wastewater treatment plants are in a unique position to help these sectors as they are able to generate renewable biogas which can be used as a substitute for natural gas. Currently, some wastewater treatment plants burn their biogas to meet onsite energy requirements; however, there is growing scepticism in the industry as to whether this is the most effective use of this resource. The current study investigates whether it would be economically and environmentally beneficial for these wastewater treatment plants to sell their biogas and generate energy through other means. To this end a case study assessment of a plant in Adelaide, South Australia was undertaken. Results showed that all studied cases resulted in significant economic and environmental gains over the traditional biogas-only system, suggesting that there is considerable potential for future changes to the way wastewater treatment plant are operated to realise their full potential as urban resource recovery facilities.
如果人类要实现《巴黎协定》的目标，就需要实现所有经济领域的脱碳。在过去的 10 年中，电力部门的排放量已经大幅下降，然而，由于其他经济领域依赖天然气，它们的减排步伐无法跟上。污水处理厂在帮助这些部门方面具有独特的地位，因为它们能够产生可再生的沼气，可作为天然气的替代品。目前，一些污水处理厂燃烧沼气来满足现场能源需求；然而，业界越来越怀疑这种做法是否是对这种资源的最有效利用。本研究旨在探讨这些污水处理厂通过其他方式出售沼气并发电是否在经济和环境上都有益。为此，对南澳大利亚阿德莱德的一家工厂进行了案例研究评估。结果表明，所有研究案例在经济和环境方面均优于传统的仅使用沼气的系统，这表明未来污水处理厂的运营方式可能会发生重大变化，以充分发挥其作为城市资源回收设施的潜力。
