SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif- A Cal Poly research team has just received over 1-million dollars from the Department of Energy to continue and expand a project that treats wastewater to make energy.
The project is aimed at developing processes to turn wastewater into sustainable algal biofuels. "We can take these algae, harvest it, and attain our biofuels, biogas, fertilizer, whatever it may be to help offset our energy costs," said Cal Poly grad student Matt Rodrigues.
For cities in today's economy, saving anywhere especially on energy, could be vital. "A significant chunk of a cities energy costs is pumping and treating wastewater and this process will significantly take those costs down," said Elliot Ripley, a Cal Poly grad student.
The project is only a small footprint compared to what it would look like if it were treating water for a whole city, but it's a start, and more and more of these ponds are turning up around the country. "We can get an enormous amount of biofuels out of this wastewater while treating the wastewater, so it's a process that we are treating water with and gaining energy from as well," said Ripley.
The project is being worked on at San Luis Obispo's Water Reclamation Facility. The city has been supportive and gave Cal Poly a chunk of their land for the research.
