In this newsletter we highlight our activities between July – Sept 2020 and provide an update on progress so far with the research underway in advanced anaerobic digestion technologies. The last three months have certainly been challenging with COVID-19 restrictions and the second wave affecting our partners businesses. The Wastes to Profits project has been impacted with our planned intensive sampling campaigns being put on hold until restrictions begin to lift.
The Wastes to Profits project is developing advanced anaerobic digestion technologies with research activities including batch screening trials, long-term continuous laboratory experiments and pilot-scale demonstration activities either underway or planned. Novel Anaerobic Digestion (AD) pre-treatments are a key strategy to enhance biogas production and simultaneously reduce the cost of AD through lower capital expenditure and reduced digestate disposal costs.
Within the Wastes to Profits project, more than 12 novel pre-treatments have been identified for application to wastes from agro-industry with up to 60% improvement in methane production and improvements up to >200% in degradation speed achieved. However, the results also demonstrate that different pre-treatments are effective on different waste streams and site-specific technology selection is required.
A pilot-scale demonstration facility is now being developed to test the technologies in real world conditions and to serve as a platform for more integrated waste-to-value technology development – including to provide materials for protein production and fertiliser development. Over the next 12 – 18 months the plan is to start conducting pilot scale trials on partners sites including translating what we have learned in the lab to piloting advanced anaerobic digestion systems.
We are hopeful for a strong recovery in the months to come for the Australian economy. The Federal and State governments have been announcing COVID-19 recovery measures, and it is encouraging to see the focus on emissions reduction technologies and renewable energy as opportunities to support industry development, job creation and economic growth. These announcements may enable a greater adoption of Anaerobic Digestion and other technologies that reduce emissions and costs in Australia’s primary production and processing industries.
We ask you to express your interest in attending future webinars run by the Wastes to Profits team on Advanced Anaerobic Digestion. We welcome your interest, involvement and feedback. Please make sure to visit the website, sign up to the newsletter and encourage your colleagues to do the same. If you need more information or want to become actively involved in the project, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Research spotlight
In this section we have videos from the Wastes to Profits team about their research. If there are specific topics that you would like to see from the team – please contact us. |
Dr John Outram
Provides an overview of the research activity investigating utilisation of process additives to Anaerobic Digestion aiming to improve biogas yields and nutrient recovery. Watch the researcher spotlight video here.
Engagement and Collaboration
In this section we highlight specific events, engagement and collaboration activities of the Wastes to Profits team. If there are specific meetings, events or sites that you would like to see the team present or attend – please contact us.
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Online Tool Development
The development of a Wastes to Profits ADAdvisor tool is underway at the University of Southern Queensland. This tool, will act as a preliminary evaluation tool for greenfield and brownfield anaerobic digestion projects. We expect a beta version to be available by the end of 2020. |
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Webinars
We held two Webinars for our project partners on increasing removal of water from solid organic wastes and improving Anaerobic Digestion performance through additives. We will continue to use this format and plan to hold public webinars later in the year. Please express your interest in our future Webinars here. |
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Sampling continues – just!
COVID-19 has impacted the project through restricted access to partners sites. Unfortunately due to the second wave our intensive sampling programs in Queensland and Victoria were put on hold for a period of time.
Thankfully we are starting to see some restrictions lift, we hope to restart the planned intensive sampling programs up soon. |
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Planning next pilot trials
We have been working on the plans for our next set of pilot trials which will include mobile anaerobic co-digestion pilot, including technology integration of pre-treatments and additives that improve biogas yield and digestate quality. If you are interested to know more about these anaerobic co-digestion pilots or want to collaborate please get in touch here. |
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AMPC Aggregated Waste to Energy Webinar
This webinar illustrated the techno-economic feasibility for producing renewable thermal energy, reducing emissions, and creating more efficient bio-waste disposal for red meat processing plants through Aggregated Waste to Energy.
Wastes to Profits team at the University of Queensland Advanced Water Management Centre was involved in the collection and analysis of the organic waste streams for potential aggregation in Anaerobic Digestion.
To listen to this webinar click here |
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Other potential events of interest
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Virtual Cleantech Conference & Exhibition (VCTCE)
24 – 26 November 2020
The VCTCE will be run over three half-days of immersive content from industry innovators, thought leaders and practitioners. It is a 100% virtual event, designed to facilitate the cross-sector conversations and collaboration required to drive the continuing growth of the Cleantech sector.
For more info on the webinar and to register click here |
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The Wastes to Profits Project Overview
The Wastes to Profits project aims to capture a potential market opportunity for the livestock sector in excess of AUD$100 million per year by converting wastes into valuable products.
The Wastes to Profits project brings together stakeholders from across Australia’s animal industries with technology, research and development providers. The project delivers advanced technologies to convert wastes from livestock production and municipal water treatment into fertilisers, feeds, chemicals, and energy products for use in agriculture. The overall aim of the project is to improve productivity and enhance profitability for primary producers.
The project focuses on the following 4 areas;
- Area 1: Assessing waste streams from the livestock sector, developing business models and pathways to adoption to promote commercial application of project outcomes;
- Area 2: Developing technologies for improved management of wastes with a key focus on anaerobic digestion as a platform for energy production from waste;
- Area 3: Developing technologies for the production of nutritionally-advanced feeds; and
- Area 4: Developing technologies for production of fertilisers, chemicals, plastics, and energy products.
We welcome your interest, involvement and feedback throughout this four year project from 2018 to 2021. Please make sure to visit the website, sign up to the newsletter and encourage your colleagues to do the same. If you need more information or want to become actively involved in the project, please do not hesitate to contact us. |
Chair, Wastes to Profits Steering Committee
Doug McNicholl
Program Manager, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA)
e: dmcnicholl@mla.com.au
p: 0439 275 794 |
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Chief Investigator, Wastes to Profits
Prof Ian O’Hara
Principal Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
e: i.ohara@qut.edu.au
p: (07) 3138 1551 |
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Project Manager, Wastes to Profits
Lisa van den Berg
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
e: lisa.vandenberg@qut.edu.au
p: (07) 3138 1415 |
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