India – Dr Karthik Rajendran, Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, has published a paper on “Mechanism and challenges behind algae as a wastewater treatment choice for bioenergy production and beyond” in the Fuel journal, which is published by Elsevier. His research work encompasses wastewater treatment using algae for bioenergy production. In his words, “Conventional wastewater treatment systems use activated sludge processes. This process not only uses energy, but also results in emissions. Wastewater contains valuable nutrients and energy recovery options, which are the least explored. Algae helps in reducing emissions by sequestering carbon which leads to negative emissions. The research highlights different mechanisms of using algae for wastewater treatment.”
India as a country is under water-stress and the need for recycling and reusing water is on the rise. The wastewater contains essential nutrients for agriculture and plant growth which are limited resources available to us. Such limitations have inspired efforts to provide solutions to work on algae as a wastewater treatment method. Processes for the same are studied in this paper to comprehend its efficiency and for developing a sustainable choice for the industry. This work will enable the scientists and industrialists to appreciate the usage of algae as an option for wastewater treatment.
Dr Karthik further provides insights on his current research proceedings by saying, “We are currently working on recovering nutrients including phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater. We are currently performing the theoretical evaluation of the amount of nutrients that can be recovered from different nutrient recovery technologies including microalgae. Such systems not only reduce emissions, but also reduce the amount of virgin materials used.”
Reference:
Geetanjali Yadav, Sabarathinam Shanmugam, Ramachandran Sivaramakrishnan, Deepak Kumar, Thangavel Mathimani, Kathirvel Brindhadevi, Arivalagan Pugazhendhi, Karthik Rajendran. Mechanism and challenges behind algae as a wastewater treatment choice for bioenergy production and beyond. Fuel, Volume 285, 2021, 119093,
ISSN 0016-2361, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119093
Editor at the digital magazine AquaHoy. He holds a degree in Aquaculture Biology from the National University of Santa (UNS) and a Master’s degree in Science and Innovation Management from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, with postgraduate diplomas in Business Innovation and Innovation Management. He possesses extensive experience in the aquaculture and fisheries sector, having led the Fisheries Innovation Unit of the National Program for Innovation in Fisheries and Aquaculture (PNIPA). He has served as a senior consultant in technology watch, an innovation project formulator and advisor, and a lecturer at UNS. He is a member of the Peruvian College of Biologists and was recognized by the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) in 2016 for his contribution to aquaculture.
