Publisher's Synopsis
The overall goal of this energy project is to aid water resource recovery facilities in quickly assessing their energy management performances (benchmarking) and move toward "net-zero" energy use through proven and available practices and technologies in the areas of energy conservation, demand reduction, and enhanced production.
This project provides WERF subscribers with information on baseline energy performance for common wastewater treatment plant configurations and on opportunities for demand reduction, energy efficiency, and energy recovery/on-site energy production.
The guiding principle behind net-zero energy was that neutrality had to be achieved by harnessing the energy contained in the wastes treated. Following this principle removed wind and solar power from consideration. These energy sources may contribute to a facility's energy performance, but they are unrelated to the embedded energy contained in waste streams at a water resource recovery facility (WRRF).
The results from this project confirm the hypothesis that energy-neutral wastewater treatment is within reach for a significant number of facilities via proven and available technologies.
WERF Report: ENER1C12
