A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant
The present work analyses aspects of the carbon footprint of a large wastewater treatment plant in central Italy. The plant mainly consists of a traditional activated sludge system along with an anaerobic digester providing a partial contribution of energy to the management. An integrated approach w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Energy Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484723010223 |
| _version_ | 1797807073324433408 |
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| author | Boiocchi Riccardo Viotti Paolo Lancione Davide Stracqualursi Nicoletta Torretta Vincenzo Ragazzi Marco Ionescu Gabriela Rada Elena Cristina |
| author_facet | Boiocchi Riccardo Viotti Paolo Lancione Davide Stracqualursi Nicoletta Torretta Vincenzo Ragazzi Marco Ionescu Gabriela Rada Elena Cristina |
| author_sort | Boiocchi Riccardo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present work analyses aspects of the carbon footprint of a large wastewater treatment plant in central Italy. The plant mainly consists of a traditional activated sludge system along with an anaerobic digester providing a partial contribution of energy to the management. An integrated approach was adopted to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the treatment plant in terms of carbon footprint. For the assessment different sources of greenhouse gas emissions such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide were considered: effluent, production and transport of natural gas, energy consumption, boiler, co-generator, substrate and endogenous decays. According to the methodology adopted, energy consumption, production and transport of natural gas and N2O emissions from the effluent were found the most contributing sources of greenhouse gases. Based on this, these sources are suggested as the most relevant ones on which wastewater treatment plant managers should pay more attention when taking actions for carbon footprint mitigation. Considerations on the role of CO2 of biogenic origin (specifically the one in the biogas) in terms of sequestration options demonstrate that the analysis in this field should not be limited to the calculation and comment of non-fossil contributions to the overall balance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:17:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cd181f8dc2a14c4d85c4f49d4bd25d79 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-4847 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:17:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energy Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-cd181f8dc2a14c4d85c4f49d4bd25d792023-06-11T04:14:38ZengElsevierEnergy Reports2352-48472023-09-019274286A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plantBoiocchi Riccardo0Viotti Paolo1Lancione Davide2Stracqualursi Nicoletta3Torretta Vincenzo4Ragazzi Marco5Ionescu Gabriela6Rada Elena Cristina7Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, via Mesiano, 77, Trento 38123, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, Rome 00184, ItalySACCIR SpA, Via delle Ande 39, 00144 Rome, ItalyACEA Elabori, Via Vitorchiano 163, 00189 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Insubria University of Varese, Via G.B. Vico 46, Varese 21100, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, via Mesiano, 77, Trento 38123, ItalyDepartment of Energy, Production and Use, Faculty of Energy Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 303 Splaiul Independentei st., Bucharest 060042, Romania; Corresponding authors.Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Insubria University of Varese, Via G.B. Vico 46, Varese 21100, Italy; Corresponding authors.The present work analyses aspects of the carbon footprint of a large wastewater treatment plant in central Italy. The plant mainly consists of a traditional activated sludge system along with an anaerobic digester providing a partial contribution of energy to the management. An integrated approach was adopted to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the treatment plant in terms of carbon footprint. For the assessment different sources of greenhouse gas emissions such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide were considered: effluent, production and transport of natural gas, energy consumption, boiler, co-generator, substrate and endogenous decays. According to the methodology adopted, energy consumption, production and transport of natural gas and N2O emissions from the effluent were found the most contributing sources of greenhouse gases. Based on this, these sources are suggested as the most relevant ones on which wastewater treatment plant managers should pay more attention when taking actions for carbon footprint mitigation. Considerations on the role of CO2 of biogenic origin (specifically the one in the biogas) in terms of sequestration options demonstrate that the analysis in this field should not be limited to the calculation and comment of non-fossil contributions to the overall balance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484723010223WastewaterGreenhouse gasCarbon dioxideNitrous oxideSequestration |
| spellingShingle | Boiocchi Riccardo Viotti Paolo Lancione Davide Stracqualursi Nicoletta Torretta Vincenzo Ragazzi Marco Ionescu Gabriela Rada Elena Cristina A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant Energy Reports Wastewater Greenhouse gas Carbon dioxide Nitrous oxide Sequestration |
| title | A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| title_full | A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| title_fullStr | A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| title_full_unstemmed | A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| title_short | A study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| title_sort | study on the carbon footprint contributions from a large wastewater treatment plant |
| topic | Wastewater Greenhouse gas Carbon dioxide Nitrous oxide Sequestration |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484723010223 |
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