Resource recovery from wastewater with Bioelectrochemical Systems

Lead Research Organisation: University of Surrey
Department Name: Centre for Environment & Sustainability

Abstract

Production and recovery of energy and industrial materials from novel biological sources reduces our dependency on the Earth's finite mineral petrochemical resources and helps the UK economy to become a low carbon economy. Recovering energy and valuable resources such as metals from waste materials is an attractive but challenging prospect. The valuable materials are usually present in wastes at very low levels and present as a highly complex mixture. This makes it very difficult to concentrate and purify them in an economically sustainable manner.
In recent years there have been exciting advances in our understanding of ways in which microorganisms can extract the energy locked up in the organic compounds found in wastewater and in the process generate electricity. This is achieved in devices known as microbial fuel cells (MFC). In an MFC microorganisms on the anode oxidize organic compounds and in doing so generate electrons. These electrons are passed into an electrical circuit and transferred to the MFC cathode where they usually react with oxygen to form water, sustaining an electric current in the process. In theory MFC can be configured such that, rather than conversion of oxygen to water at the cathode they could convert metal ions to metals or drive the synthesis of valuable chemicals. It is our aim to develop such systems that use energy harvested from wastewater to recover metals from metal-containing waste streams and for the synthesis of valuable chemicals, ultimately from CO2.
This project will bring together experts from academia and industry to devise ways in which this can be achieved and will form the foundation of a research programme where scientists working on fundamental research and those with the skills to translate laboratory science to industrial processes will work together to develop sustainable processes for the production of valuable resources from waste.

Planned Impact

The main impact of the proposed technology that will be evaluated is the application of bioelectrochemical systems to tackle the burden of waste treatment (nationally and eventually Internationally) and transferring the energy, metals and minerals contained within to produce useful products. The proposed bioelectrochemical system will have wide applications particularly to industries producing wastewater with high organic content. Thus potential non-academic beneficiaries may include the food and drink industry, breweries, agriculture and the paper and pulp industry and also water utilities charged with sustainable treatment of wastewater from a range of sources. The technologies that will be developed in the project will permit them to recover value from their waste products. More immediately the research will have impact on our industrial collaborators who will be involved in developing new materials and processes as a result of their collaboration with the academic researchers in this project ( e.g. Chemviron Carbon, MagnetoChemie, WH Partnership). These and other organizations will be involved from the outset in identifying research needs and planning a project that will meet them. The societal significance of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and geological resources is immense and this will clearly impact environmental regulators, policy makers and politicians. The accompanying Pathways to Impact document details how we will maximize the chances of realizing these impacts through various activities designed to foster close collaboration an engagement with potential non-academic beneficiaries.

Publications

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Alabbasi A (2022) Sustainable Indicators for Integrating Renewable Energy in Bahrain's Power Generation in Sustainability

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Andries A (2023) Potential of Using Night-Time Light to Proxy Social Indicators for Sustainable Development in Remote Sensing

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Castillo-Landero A (2022) A process modularity approach for chemical process intensification and inherently safer design in Process Safety and Environmental Protection

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Chowdhury R (2018) Effects of residence time on life cycle assessment of bioenergy production from dairy manure in Bioresource Technology Reports

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Gadkari S (2021) Microbial electrosynthesis: is it sustainable for bioproduction of acetic acid? in RSC advances

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Gadkari S (2018) Towards automated design of bioelectrochemical systems: A comprehensive review of mathematical models in Chemical Engineering Journal

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Gadkari S (2020) A robust correlation based on dimensional analysis to characterize microbial fuel cells. in Scientific reports

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Gadkari S (2019) Two-dimensional mathematical model of an air-cathode microbial fuel cell with graphite fiber brush anode in Journal of Power Sources

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Gadkari S (2019) Microbial fuel cells: A fast converging dynamic model for assessing system performance based on bioanode kinetics in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

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Gadkari S (2020) Influence of temperature and other system parameters on microbial fuel cell performance: Numerical and experimental investigation in Chemical Engineering Journal

 
Description https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852418300853: A novel framework integrating dynamic simulation (DS), life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) of bioelectrochemical system (BES) has been developed to study for the first time wastewater treatment by removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) by oxidation in anode and thereby harvesting electron and proton for carbon dioxide reduction reaction or reuse to produce products in cathode. Increases in initial COD and applied potential increase COD removal and production (in this case formic acid) rates. DS correlations are used in LCA and TEA for holistic performance analyses. The cost of production of HCOOH is €0.015-0.005g-1 for its production rate of 0.094-0.26kgyr-1 and a COD removal rate of 0.038-0.106kgyr-1. The life cycle (LC) benefits by avoiding fossil-based formic acid production (93%) and electricity for wastewater treatment (12%) outweigh LC costs of operation and assemblage of BES (-5%), giving a net 61MJkg-1HCOOH saving. 3. Recent key contributions: Best paper by the editorial board: Sadhukhan J et al. 2016. Novel integrated mechanical biological chemical treatment (MBCT) systems for the production of levulinic acid from fraction of municipal solid waste: A comprehensive techno-economic analysis. Bioresource Technology 215, 131-143.
4. Sadhukhan J et al. 2016. A critical review of integration analysis of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with waste biorefineries for the production of biofuel and chemical from reuse of CO2. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 56, 116-132.
5. Ng, K.S., Head, I., Premier, G.C., Scott, K., Yu, E., Lloyd, J. and Sadhukhan, J., 2016. A multilevel sustainability analysis of zinc recovery from wastes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 113, 88-105.
6. Sadhukhan, J. and Martinez-Hernandez, E., 2017. Material flow and sustainability analyses of biorefining of municipal solid waste. Bioresource technology, 243, pp.135-146.
7. Galano, A., Aburto, J., Sadhukhan, J. and Torres-García, E., 2017. A combined theoretical-experimental investigation on the mechanism of lignin pyrolysis: Role of heating rates and residence times. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 128, 208-216.
8. Sadhukhan J et al. 2017. Life cycle assessment of sustainable raw material acquisition for functional magnetite bionanoparticle production. J Environmental Management, 199, 116-125.
9. Pask, F., Lake, P., Yang, A., Tokos, H. and Sadhukhan, J., 2017. Sustainability indicators for industrial ovens and assessment using Fuzzy set theory and Monte Carlo simulation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 1217-1225.
10. Sadhukhan J et al. 2018. Role of bioenergy, biorefinery and bioeconomy in sustainable development: Strategic pathways for Malaysia. Ren. Sus. Energy Rev. 81(2), 1966-1987.
11. Shemfe, M., Gadkari, S., Yu, E., Rasul, S., Scott, K., Head, I., Gu, S. and Sadhukhan, J., 2018. Life cycle, techno-economic and dynamic simulation assessment of bioelectrochemical systems: A case of formic acid synthesis. Bioresource Technology, 255, 39-49.
12. Gear, M., Sadhukhan, J., Thorpe, R., Clift, R., Seville, J. and Keast, M., 2018. A life cycle assessment data analysis toolkit for the design of novel processes-A case study for a thermal cracking process for mixed plastic waste. Journal of Cleaner Production, 180, 735-747.
13. Miah, J.H., Griffiths, A., McNeill, R., Halvorson, S., Schenker, U., Espinoza-Orias, N.D., Morse, S., Yang, A. and Sadhukhan, J., 2018. Environmental management of confectionery products: Life cycle impacts and improvement strategies. J Cleaner Production, 177, 732-751.
14. Sadhukhan J., Martinez-Hernandez E. and Ng K.S. 2016. (Eds) Biorefinery Value Chain Creation. Chemical Engineering Research and Design. Elsevier, 107, 1-280.
Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) of copper recovery from industrial wastewaters using microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems have been completed in collaboration with Newcastle and Chivas Brothers Ltd. Two research outputs are expected.

Research outcome is from partnership between 4 major research groups / universities (Newcastle, Surrey, Manchester, U Wales) with strong links with three other world leaders in the field (Ugent, U Pennstate and VITO). A number of aspects we have first time revealed in the paper: Sadhukhan, J., Lloyd, J.R., Scott, K., Premier, G.C., Eileen, H.Y., Curtis, T. and Head, I.M., 2016. A critical review of integration analysis of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with waste biorefineries for the production of biofuel and chemical from reuse of CO 2. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 56, pp.116-132. This paper makes several novel contributions.
1) Integrated biorefinery and microbial electrosynthesis (MES) process conceptual flowsheets;
2) A plethora of added value product generation options from MES, and integrated biorefinery and MES process flowsheets;
3) Theoretical modelling framework for MES systems from the fundamental basis of the Gibbs free energy minimisation or thermodynamic optimisation of biologically relevant reactions to produce biofuels, hydrogen, energy and chemical products.
4) A market- and sustainability- driven strategy to speed up the development of MES combining metabolic flux analysis, metabolic pathway analysis, thermodynamic optimisation, process simulation, dynamics and control experimentation.
5) Unlocking the value of metals and organics from urban waste by innovative MES and biorefinery technologies.
Exploitation Route "Bio-based industries show €600 billion turnover and 3.2 million employees. The bio-based industry is already an important part of the European economy and a pivotal element in the transition to a sustainable, circular economy in Europe with renewable raw materials as key enablers." (http://www.rebnews.com/news/resource_efficiency/bioeconomy_including_plastics_paper_worth_e21_trillion_european_economy.html) The bio-based industries are currently facing the challenges resulting from increasing volume of stillage streams representing unconverted organics, which are discharged to the environment. However, these should not be directly disposed of to the environment due to increasing concerns over land, aquatic and atmospheric emissions. The integrated technology and protocol we have developed can help recover these biorefinery pollutants as resources and thereby eliminate discharges to the environment. Biorefineries and MES systems may be symbiotically integrated to increase product yields and selectivities and thereby overall efficiency to resolve the key issues with up-scaling of both the technologies.
By the virtue of different reduction potentials, selective synthesis of biofuels and chemicals is possible in MES utilising carbon sources from waste streams. Realizing the full polygeneration potentials, i.e. simultaneous recovery of metals (apparently pollutants from biorefineries), production of biofuels and chemicals from reuse of CO2, and synergistic integration within biorefineries, is imperative to attain an economic and environmental upside of novel electrochemical synthesis processes.
Sectors Chemicals

Creative Economy

Education

Energy

Manufacturing

including Industrial Biotechology
URL http://www.theibest.org/Life%20Cycle%20Sustainability%20Assessment%20(LCSA)%20-%20end%20of%20project%20report.pdf
 
Description 1. As part of ongoing NERC and EPSRC projects, we are developing software "Global Sustainability and Engineering analysis of Resource recovery Technologies" (GSERT) that has generated licensing interests amongst leading industries in the area of BES. Licensing will be pursued in collaboration with industries. Surrey is making a prominent contribution in the RRfW Policy Impact Project and policy notes. 2. Fuel cell (FC) mode gives greater environmental drivers than electrolysis cell (EC) mode of MES systems. More specifically, the set up for FC must run for 7-10 years, while for EC 14-15 years, to break-even environmental impact cost and saving. Progress is being made to meet or validate these life times. 3. Environmental LCA gives an indication of numbers of years of lifetime of various BES set-ups, needed. Taking the numbers of years of lifetime as the bases of net present value or discounted cash flow calculations, internal rate of return can be estimated. Internal rate of return then tells how much more revenues may be needed from product recovery. 4. Both the quality and quantity aspects of recovered copper have to be looked at using integrated waste management approach, to achieve the feasible rate of return. More specifically, the set up for FC must give 15-16 times more revenues, and this can be achieved by the recovery of Cu with functional properties like catalytic properties. Thus, the experimental efforts have been directed to functional Cu recovery and integrated waste management. 5. For continuous operations two cells of same designs have been recommended with one operating and another regenerating. The environmental impact and economic costs are thus doubled for the same amount of copper recovery from a single cell. Electrochemical technologies are seen to be the next generations renewable technologies for resource recovery from waste in various sectors in major technology roadmapping papers and works worldwide. Our work for the first time showed outstandinly creative sustainable solution. Furthermore, electrochemical technologies and waste biorefineries can be integrated for increased efficiency and competitiveness with stillage released from the latter process used in the former as feedstock and energy resource recovered from the former used in the latter. Such symbiotic integration can avoid loss of material and energy from waste streams, thereby increasing the overall efficiency, economics and environmental performance that would serve towards delivering the common goals from both the systems. A major expansion of the range and the depth of research and its application can be clearly seen in the framework developed: 63 anodic and 72 cathodic reactions of metabolism and 9 metabolic pathways have been modelled for assessing technical feasibility of resource recovery from waste substrates. This entails the whole complete and comprehensive range of feasible productions. Earlier works dealt with one target product using the system, but not the entire paradigm of possibilities. We now have Chivas Brothers on board looking to explore the technology for metal recovery from wastewater. Other industrial partners include: Tata Steel, Northumbrian Water, Chemviron Carbon, MAGNETO, WH Partnership. For more details, visit: http://www.meteorr.ac.uk/
First Year Of Impact 2017
Sector Chemicals,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology
Impact Types Societal

Economic
 
Description Contributing in RRfW Policy Impact Project and policy note drafts
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
Impact Complete valorization of municipal solid waste (MSW) is possible and integrates material recovery facility (MRF); pulping, chemical conversion; effluent treatment plant (ETP), Anaeorobic digestion (AD); and combined heat and power (CHP) systems (Ref: Sadhukhan and Martinez-Hernandez, 2017). - Production of end products: recyclables (24.9% by mass of MSW), metals (2.7%), fibre (1.5%); levulinic acid (7.4%); recyclable water (14.7%), fertiliser (8.3%); and electricity (0.126 MWh/t MSW), respectively (Sadhukhan and Martinez-Hernandez, 2017). - This clean technology and processing is needed for remedying environmental pollution, albeit at a higher capital investment. Process integration will be crucial for unlocking the value of organic waste via added value bio-based productions and a total site utility system design (Sadhukhan, 2018). - The return of nutrients to agricultural land will be promoted by the proposed amendment to the EU Fertiliser Regulation. The research and industry sectors welcome proposals to increase the flexibility of the EU Fertiliser Regs. This will serve to level the field between the conventional and alternative fertiliser markets thus encouraging innovation in the production of fertilisers from waste. - Opportunities for integration of developing technologies into existing infrastructure can bring about complementary effects and perceived waste products can be utilised to benefit other parts of the system. Industrial symbiosis could promote sharing of technical expertise, opportunities to integrate complementary systems and symbiosis in terms of sharing of wastes from one industrial process that can become a valuable resource in another process. - Currently many AD plants and MSW treatment centres are reliant on public money in the form of incentives for energy production or for MSW treatment, gate fees paid by the local authority and feed-in-tariff for AD. The integration of Bioelectrochemical system (BES) into these existing technologies could lead to further valorisation of the waste streams in terms of high value chemicals and elements from MSW, and targeted fertiliser materials from AD. In order to promote economic independence of these technologies the full life cycle of the recovered materials compared to the fossil-fuel based equivalents they replace should be considered.- Techno-economic analysis, LCA and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) have been extensively applied for RRfW within the METEORR project (Shemfe et al., 2018; Sadhukhan et al., 2018; Sadhukhan and Martinez-Hernandez, 2017; Sadhukhan et al., 2017; Ng et al., 2016; Sadhukhan et al. 2016a; Sadhukhan et al. 2016b)), to conclude the following (Sadhukhan, 2018). o LCSA of BES clearly shows net savings of impacts in resources, climate change, ecosystem quality and human health, compared to equivalent fossil based services. o LCSA should drive sustainable development of BES and RRfW and biorefinery systems and include the UN SDGs as far as possible to show its importance and relevance in developing economies. o Pollutant emissions to the environment should be regulated to the most stringent level (Planetary boundaries). o Policy incentives are needed for BES and RRfW and biorefinery systems, e.g. funding one third the initial investment without payment for next ten years can progress small to medium enterprises (SMEs) (Sadhukhan et al., 2018). o Innovation and resource efficiency and productivity are the key criteria for the eligibility for such funding.
URL http://www.theibest.org/Life%20Cycle%20Sustainability%20Assessment%20(LCSA)%20-%20end%20of%20project...
 
Description Life Cycle Assessment for the EBNet Industrial Community: Goal and Scope Definition
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact With the worldwide concerns of the living environment, it is highly important to investigate and understand the environmental impacts of each technology and feedstock, for decision-makers to develop the future energy management plan. This understanding is crucial for decision-makers in formulating strategies for managing these organic materials using circular economy principles. AD is assisted by hydrothermal treatment and nutrient recovery, with this framework seen as a promising circular economy concept for food waste valorization, while reducing the carbon footprint. Developing an LCI and gathering data stand as a pivotal phase in any LCA investigation. Our novel standard anaerobic digestion (AD) / biogas / biomethane / bio-electricity GWP calculation equation follows the format for GWP measurements, regulations, and reporting of the EU directive, consisting of GWP from individual life cycle stages, i.e., resource acquisition or cultivation, transportation including feedstock and digestate, AD plant operation, CHP systems, and digestate application. Further, avoided GWP includes GWP from natural gas production (displaced by cradle-to-gate AD systems), or GWP from grid electricity and heat, and conventional fossil-based fertilizer (displaced by cradle-to-grave AD systems). The net GWP saving by AD systems is the difference between avoided GWP and GWP impacts. Commendably, our novel model provides the formulation in a format similar to the EU Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing a minimum threshold for greenhouse gas emissions savings.
 
Description The organic waste gold rush: optimising resource recovery in the UK bioeconomy
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health
Impact "The use of organic waste in the bioeconomy has the potential to contribute towards the UK's strategic goals of clean growth, resource security and reducing use of fossil fuels. While the reduction of avoidable organic waste remains a priority, a number of waste streams are likely to persist and could provide a significant feedstock for the UK bioeconomy. The greatest environmental, social and economic benefits of resource recovery from organic wastes are associated with the displacement of fossil fuel derived chemicals and materials, and the combined products of nutrients and energy from anaerobic digestion. Organic wastes offer multiple resources that can be exploited most efficiently by technologies working in synergy with each other. Investments into different options for using organic wastes are driven by government policy and resource demand, in addition to technology readiness. Policy and regulations should encourage industrial synergies and an increase in the diversity of resources recovered from organic waste in order to be able to respond to future resource demands."
URL https://rrfw.org.uk/policy/
 
Description A decision support platform for bioenergy technology deployment and policy making in Mexico
Amount £400,000 (GBP)
Organisation British Council 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2020 
End 03/2023
 
Description ELEMENTAL Engineering Biology Mission Hub
Amount £566,960 (GBP)
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2024 
End 02/2029
 
Description Innovate UK ICURe towards commercialisation of TESARREC - A tool for sustainability assessment of environmental technologies for circular economy (PI 2019)
Amount £50,000 (GBP)
Organisation Innovate UK 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2019 
End 03/2019
 
Description Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Environmental Biotechnology and Bioenergy
Amount £20,000 (GBP)
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 03/2024
 
Description Multidisciplinary Fuels Call
Amount £1,924,296 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/N009746/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2016 
End 02/2020
 
Description NERC Mini Project Call Round 2
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Organisation Natural Environment Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 03/2018
 
Description Process Integration and Sustainability Assessment
Amount £25,000 (GBP)
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 03/2024
 
Description Researcher Links Workshop in Mexico on Biorefinery research - promoting international collaboration for innovative and sustainable solutions
Amount £47,200 (GBP)
Organisation British Council 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2014 
End 05/2015
 
Description UK-India British Council / RSC Newton-Bhabha Researcher Links Workshop
Amount £32,100 (GBP)
Organisation British Council 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 01/2018
 
Description University of Surrey: NERC Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund NE/W003627/1: i-CREW-International Collaboration for Optimisation of Resource Recovery from Wastewater
Amount £100,000 (GBP)
Funding ID NE/W003627/1 
Organisation Natural Environment Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2021 
End 08/2023
 
Title Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment - methodology as well as software 
Description A novel framework integrating dynamic simulation (DS), life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) of bioelectrochemical system (BES) has been developed to study for the first time wastewater treatment by removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) by oxidation in anode and thereby harvesting electron and proton for metal and mineral recovery as well as carbon dioxide reduction reaction or reuse to produce products in cathode, overall resource recovery from waste, when all other technologies fail. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The METEORR project has developed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (according to the standards 14040, 14041 and 14044, by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)) and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) (ISO 26000 (Guidance on Social Responsibility) framework to provide an integrated way of assessing sustainability indicators of a system or a set of services and can be applied for sustainable resource recovery from waste (RRfW) systems. Sustainability and feasibility of a resource recovery strategy from wastes in a circular economy are governed by avoided environmental impacts and cost-effective transformation of an environmental contaminant into a valuable resource, e.g. as a coproduct by making use of an existing infrastructure as much as possible. Policy recommendations are detailed here: http://www.theibest.org/Life%20Cycle%20Sustainability%20Assessment%20(LCSA)%20-%20end%20of%20project%20report.pdf 
 
Title Novel Algebraic Equation-based Models for Global Warming Standardization in Anaerobic Digestion Systems with Critical Life Cycle Analyses 
Description There is renewed interest in biogas due to the Green Gas Support Scheme to create Net-Zero UK. It is crucial to develop a universally robust LCA model to conduct structured and reliable evaluations of LCA, ensuring the results remain comparable with those from LCI databases. Thus, our approach results in two sets of algebraic equations for standard GWP estimation, one based on published literature and the other based on the Ecoinvent LCI database. The predictions between the two models are compared, so that the former set of algebraic equations based on published literature can be easily applied in other studies to calculate the GWP of biogas in various contexts (biomethane and bio-electricity). Our approach emphasizes ease of updating and can be used in long-term or short-term scheduling and control optimization models, achieving the same quality of results as the LCI database. In this study, we pursued several objectives: (i) a comprehensive analysis of LCA results for various feedstocks used in AD systems worldwide; (ii) an exploration of the impact of different AD system variabilities on LCA through sensitivity analysis; (iii) the development of LCA-based algebraic formulae to evaluate the environmental footprint of cradle-to-grave (literature-based) and cradle-to-gate (both literature-based and Ecoinvent LCI-based) AD systems across different scenarios, feedstocks, geographic locations, etc.; and (iv) a comparison between the two approaches. It can be noted that Ecoinvent LCI data for cradle-to-grave AD systems are aggregated and indivisible by life cycle stage or activity. Consequently, Ecoinvent LCI-based formulae are limited to cradle-to-gate up to biomethane production systems. In contrast, literature-based formulae cover holistic cradle-to-grave systems with contributions of individual life cycle stages or activities. Furthermore, comparisons of the literature-based model with the Ecoinvent-based predictions are conducted to reveal closely aligned results, affirming their robustness. 
Type Of Material Technology assay or reagent 
Year Produced 2024 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The organic waste processors can easily access this research tool and method to calculate the GWP saving through their waste treatment process. This result will help them to comply with the regulations. Biogas or anaerobic digestion (AD) systems can mitigate global warming potential (GWP), but carbon trading is complex. Successful carbon offsetting requires AD systems to adhere to key carbon crediting or offsetting programs, such as Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard (GS), Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and American Carbon Registry (ACR) by standardizing life cycle GWP reporting. For example, there are 147 ongoing VCS carbon offsetting projects with biogas estimated to reduce 16.93 Mt (million tonnes) CO2e. There are 322 ongoing GS carbon offsetting projects with biogas estimated to reduce 22.88 Mt (million tonnes) CO2e. This study focuses on creating algebraic equations for calculating the GWP of biogas, crucial for carbon crediting or offsetting programs and net-zero goals, which balance carbon emissions and sequestration. Biogas, derived from carbon-neutral organic waste and used as a substitute for natural gas, contributes to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With increases in carbon markets and the value of selling carbon offsets, it is important to predict GWP savings from replacing fossil fuels, and a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) is thus necessary. The study develops two novel methods for GWP calculation based on published literature and the Ecoinvent life cycle inventory (LCI) database. These methods, which differ in how they group life cycle activities, are compared to assess their predictive accuracy. The methods conduct a rigorous and significant modular synthesis approach, assigning a distinct GWP to the life cycle stages or activities in the system. This study's models are thus essential for an effective and thorough life cycle GWP assessment in AD systems. The tool will be applied by waste processors to calculate the carbon offset or saving or reduction by their system enabling them to apply for the various carbon offsetting schemes as well as qualifying them for the Green Gas Support Scheme. An example is the 50 g CO2e per kWh biomethane production rate requirement by 2030 for gas grid injection of biomethane in the UK's net-zero electricity carbon intensity requirements. 
 
Title Data for Enhanced bio-production from CO2 by Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) with Continuous operational mode 
Description This raw data is used to support the paper published in Faraday Discussions: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0FD00132E. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Data_for_Enhanced_bio-production_from_CO_sub_2_sub_b...
 
Title Database creation for microbial electrosynthesis (MES) of chemical products, metal and nanomaterials 
Description 1) A plethora of added value product generation options from MES, and integrated biorefinery and MES process flowsheets has been created, which practically includes all possible options. 2) Theoretical modelling framework for MES systems from the fundamental basis of the Gibbs free energy minimisation or thermodynamic optimisation of biologically relevant reactions to produce biofuels, hydrogen, energy and chemical products. 3) A market- and sustainability- driven strategy is enabled to speed up development of MES combining metabolic flux analysis, metabolic pathway analysis and thermodynamic optimisation. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2016 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact 1. To quickly screen feasible options. 2. To optimise MES systems. 3. To speed up upscaling of MES systems. 4. To enable sustainable MES system design. 
URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115012678
 
Title University of Surrey: Economic analysis 
Description This module within TESARREC™ of the University of Surrey enables techno-economic analysis as well as life cycle costing of biorefinery process systems. Users can choose the unit in a system and specify their capacities. The module calculates, the capital costs, operating costs, etc. of the entire system. Furthermore, the cost and value and discounted cash flow or net present value are analysed for the system. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Techno-economic and life cycle costing analyses are required to assess economic viability of an entire system. The cost of production, the value on processing and discounted cash flow, etc., can be analysed across a system. 
URL https://tesarrec.web.app/economicanalysis
 
Title University of Surrey: Microbial Fuel Cell 
Description Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are a technology for simultaneous removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater in anode chamber and electricity generation from the cell. Electrogenic bacteria harvest electrons and protons utilising organic present in wastewater as substrate in the anode chamber, thereby lowering the COD of the wastewater. Electrons flow through an external circuit from the anode to the cathode chamber generating electricity. In the cathode chamber, electrons and protons combine with oxygen generating net energy output and water. The model analyses the mass and energy performances of the MFC. It further gives life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of MFC. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact TESARREC, University of Surrey has an outreach of thousands users world-wide. 
URL https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability/mfc
 
Title University of Surrey: TESARREC Sustainability platform 
Description Software and technical product open source IP: TESARREC™ UK Trademark 00003321198 "Tool for techno-Economic and Sustainability Analysis of Resource Recovery Engineering solutions for Circular renewable and bio economy" 2018, has two modules: Sustainability and Model bench. Under sustainability, the various technical and life cycle sustainability assessment models are being built. At present, microbial electrosynthesis, biomass cogeneration and microbial fuel cell, MES, CHP and MFC, modules are available to analyse technical and life cycle sustainability of these systems. The websites are: https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability/mes https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability/chp https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability/mfc 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact TESARREC™ is the only online platform offering whole system holistic sustainability evaluations of a technical system. Such evaluations in terms of techno-economic (capex, opex, levelized cost of production and net present value, etc.), environmental impact (e.g. global warming potential, primary resource depletion, eutrophication, acidification, urban smog, human health, etc.) and social indicators (number and quality of employments, wages, gender equality, livelihood generation, labour rights, health & Safety, human rights, governance and community infrastructure, etc.) are linked to the technical performance outputs from the technical models. Thus, any change in technical variabilities can be studied at a system level- sustainability performance evaluations. TESARREC™ allowing comparisons between studies can thus help engaging policy makers, businesses, industries, SMEs, governments, policymarkers, academics, educators and researchers in informed debates and decision making. 
URL https://tesarrec.web.app/
 
Description BBSRC BB/Y008456/1: ELEMENTAL Engineering Biology Mission Hub 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Sustainability lead
Collaborator Contribution In this WP, we aim to make metal recovery more efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. Our methodology, ISO14040-44 compliant LCA and standard engineering TEA will evaluate the following problems. Bioleaching: We are tweaking bacteria to be more resistant to harsh conditions and better at extracting metals from ores and electronic waste. This involves identifying and enhancing certain genes that make bacteria more capable of surviving in acidic environments and processing metals more effectively. Novelty: With the engineered bacteria at the core, we'll establish a mass and energy flow balance around the reactor and flowsheet (including separation, purification and energy and material recovery system design), comprising the foreground system. The background system will be created involving raw material acquisition for every material and energy flow. The endpoint of interest for both the foreground and the background system is resource circulation. This total system will be evaluated for LCA and TEA, as shown in the following section. Biorecovery: This involves developing and refining methods to extract important metals like cobalt, copper, and nickel from waste products. By using genetically modified bacteria, researchers hope to improve the efficiency of metal extraction compared to traditional methods. Novelty: Leveraging the method of establishing the foreground and background systems discussed, we will conduct the TEA and LCA of the biorecovery methods for the first time. Biosensor: Specially designed bacteria will be used to recover rare and valuable metals from discarded electronics. The idea is to use one type of engineered bacteria to remove base metals and another type to dissolve noble metals like gold, creating a comprehensive biological recycling system. Novelty: We will evaluate the TEA and LCA of both the biosensor production, use and end-of-life, cradle-to-grave, systems as far as possible. Bioremediation: Another aspect of the research involves developing biological systems that can detect metals in waste streams and environments and using engineered organisms to clean up metal pollution. Novelty: The system for TEA and LCA includes microbial and plant systems (cradle-to-grave), and the impacts of bioremediation on the site. The objective of this WP is to leverage comprehensive environmental and sustainability evaluation frameworks to enhance the performance and scale-up of bioleaching, biorecovery, biosensor and bioremediation systems and their service life cycles (https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability). We propose the integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodologies, underpinned by ISO standards 14040-44 and ISO26000 for holistic whole system sustainability. We systematically evaluate and maximise the environmental, economic, and social performances throughout the complete life cycle of products and services. In the case of economic analysis, both process-level TEA and system-level life cycle costing (LCC) will be conducted to create the whole picture and balance the tradeoffs between the three dimensions of sustainability.
Impact Engineering Biology, Synthetic Biology, Engineering, Natural Environment, Society, Economy, Policy and Sustainability
Start Year 2024
 
Description Cu recovery from distillary wastewater 
Organisation Chivas Brothers ltd.
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, CML 2010, ReCiPe 1.07 and Impact 2002+, giving primary, endpoint and midpoint characterisations, respectively, are employed to estimate both resources (input) and toxicity impacts (output) that can be saved by metal recovery. A profile of avoided damage factor (MJ/kg MSW) estimated by the Impact 2002+ midpoint characterisation method, against price of metal recovered (EURO/kg MSW), shows the highest to the lowest targeted metals for recovery, as follows: Cu > Al > Zn, respectively.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrosynthesis technology implementation. South Welsh: Scale up Manchester: Nanotechnology implementation Surrey: Sustainable industrial system development Chivas Brothers: Site offered for implementation of the technology
Impact Two peer-reviewed journal publications are in progress. Specific highlights of the research outcome include: 1. Subsidies for waste treatment are not needed if chemical and metals are recovered. 2. Value analysis determines profitability according to chemical > metals > energy > composting, by waste valorisation. 3. Process integration for competitive waste biorefineries is illustrated. 4. It consists of conceptual design through simulation, heat integration to analyses.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Cu recovery from distillary wastewater 
Organisation University of Manchester
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, CML 2010, ReCiPe 1.07 and Impact 2002+, giving primary, endpoint and midpoint characterisations, respectively, are employed to estimate both resources (input) and toxicity impacts (output) that can be saved by metal recovery. A profile of avoided damage factor (MJ/kg MSW) estimated by the Impact 2002+ midpoint characterisation method, against price of metal recovered (EURO/kg MSW), shows the highest to the lowest targeted metals for recovery, as follows: Cu > Al > Zn, respectively.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrosynthesis technology implementation. South Welsh: Scale up Manchester: Nanotechnology implementation Surrey: Sustainable industrial system development Chivas Brothers: Site offered for implementation of the technology
Impact Two peer-reviewed journal publications are in progress. Specific highlights of the research outcome include: 1. Subsidies for waste treatment are not needed if chemical and metals are recovered. 2. Value analysis determines profitability according to chemical > metals > energy > composting, by waste valorisation. 3. Process integration for competitive waste biorefineries is illustrated. 4. It consists of conceptual design through simulation, heat integration to analyses.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Cu recovery from distillary wastewater 
Organisation University of Newcastle
Country Australia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, CML 2010, ReCiPe 1.07 and Impact 2002+, giving primary, endpoint and midpoint characterisations, respectively, are employed to estimate both resources (input) and toxicity impacts (output) that can be saved by metal recovery. A profile of avoided damage factor (MJ/kg MSW) estimated by the Impact 2002+ midpoint characterisation method, against price of metal recovered (EURO/kg MSW), shows the highest to the lowest targeted metals for recovery, as follows: Cu > Al > Zn, respectively.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrosynthesis technology implementation. South Welsh: Scale up Manchester: Nanotechnology implementation Surrey: Sustainable industrial system development Chivas Brothers: Site offered for implementation of the technology
Impact Two peer-reviewed journal publications are in progress. Specific highlights of the research outcome include: 1. Subsidies for waste treatment are not needed if chemical and metals are recovered. 2. Value analysis determines profitability according to chemical > metals > energy > composting, by waste valorisation. 3. Process integration for competitive waste biorefineries is illustrated. 4. It consists of conceptual design through simulation, heat integration to analyses.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Cu recovery from distillary wastewater 
Organisation University of South Wales
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, CML 2010, ReCiPe 1.07 and Impact 2002+, giving primary, endpoint and midpoint characterisations, respectively, are employed to estimate both resources (input) and toxicity impacts (output) that can be saved by metal recovery. A profile of avoided damage factor (MJ/kg MSW) estimated by the Impact 2002+ midpoint characterisation method, against price of metal recovered (EURO/kg MSW), shows the highest to the lowest targeted metals for recovery, as follows: Cu > Al > Zn, respectively.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrosynthesis technology implementation. South Welsh: Scale up Manchester: Nanotechnology implementation Surrey: Sustainable industrial system development Chivas Brothers: Site offered for implementation of the technology
Impact Two peer-reviewed journal publications are in progress. Specific highlights of the research outcome include: 1. Subsidies for waste treatment are not needed if chemical and metals are recovered. 2. Value analysis determines profitability according to chemical > metals > energy > composting, by waste valorisation. 3. Process integration for competitive waste biorefineries is illustrated. 4. It consists of conceptual design through simulation, heat integration to analyses.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Zn recovery from wastewater using microbial electrosynthesis technology 
Organisation Tata Steel Europe
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution The team at Surrey University works on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of microbial electrochemical systems, to inform design and scale up decisions. They interact closely with industrial partners to ensure the research is relevant to real world wastewater treatment. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LSCA) is a tool to characterise and assess the environmental, economic and societal aspects of a process, which can help in decision making. For example, in choosing between different waste treatment processes to be installed at an industrial site, LCSA can be used to assess the impacts of environmental, economic and societal aspects of different waste treatment technologies. Within the EU, the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) aims to prevent or minimise pollution of water, air and soil by industrial effluent and other waste from industrial installations, including energy industries, by defining basic obligations for operating licences or permits and by introducing targets, or benchmarks, for energy efficiency. The Directive on the Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants into the Air from Large Combustion Plants (2001/80/EC) - has acted to limit heavy metal emissions via dust control and absorption of heavy metals. Using microbial electrolysis synthesis system, we were able to recover Zn, Cu, etc. from wastewaters. Demand for zinc and its production are increasing at the rates of 4.7% and 2.7% per year. At the current rate of usage, its demand will reach 2.7 times of today's demand by 2050. A maximum of only 7% contribution could be allowed from primary mining to fulfil its increased demand by 2050 and the balance of the demand must be met by secondary recovery of zinc from wastes. We have shown € 1552 can be generated from the recovery of 1 tonne of zinc in the integrated mechanical biological treatment plant of urban waste enhancing the economic margin of the plant by 4%. The microbial electrolysis synthesis technology is being trialled for Zn recovery from wastewater from the galvanisation process of Tata Steel.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrolysis synthesis technology; Manchester: Nanomaterial production; South Welsh: Scale-up; Surrey: Sustainable industrial systems; Tata Steel: Provision of wastewater samples
Impact Two peer-reviewed high impact journal publications are in progress. Tata Steel is also exploring in investing in the technology. Specific findings that can have an impact at global scale include: 1. Zinc has a current usage rate of 13.5 million tonne per year in products. 2. Secondary sources of zinc include spent batteries, steelmaking dust and MSW. 3. Primary mining causes 1.53 kg CO2 equivalent release per kg of combined metal. 4. Economics enhanced by 6 times if aluminium, copper, zinc in MSW are recovered. 5. 0.005 tonne of zinc per tonne of MSW can be recovered (UK, EU).
Start Year 2015
 
Description Zn recovery from wastewater using microbial electrosynthesis technology 
Organisation University of Manchester
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The team at Surrey University works on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of microbial electrochemical systems, to inform design and scale up decisions. They interact closely with industrial partners to ensure the research is relevant to real world wastewater treatment. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LSCA) is a tool to characterise and assess the environmental, economic and societal aspects of a process, which can help in decision making. For example, in choosing between different waste treatment processes to be installed at an industrial site, LCSA can be used to assess the impacts of environmental, economic and societal aspects of different waste treatment technologies. Within the EU, the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) aims to prevent or minimise pollution of water, air and soil by industrial effluent and other waste from industrial installations, including energy industries, by defining basic obligations for operating licences or permits and by introducing targets, or benchmarks, for energy efficiency. The Directive on the Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants into the Air from Large Combustion Plants (2001/80/EC) - has acted to limit heavy metal emissions via dust control and absorption of heavy metals. Using microbial electrolysis synthesis system, we were able to recover Zn, Cu, etc. from wastewaters. Demand for zinc and its production are increasing at the rates of 4.7% and 2.7% per year. At the current rate of usage, its demand will reach 2.7 times of today's demand by 2050. A maximum of only 7% contribution could be allowed from primary mining to fulfil its increased demand by 2050 and the balance of the demand must be met by secondary recovery of zinc from wastes. We have shown € 1552 can be generated from the recovery of 1 tonne of zinc in the integrated mechanical biological treatment plant of urban waste enhancing the economic margin of the plant by 4%. The microbial electrolysis synthesis technology is being trialled for Zn recovery from wastewater from the galvanisation process of Tata Steel.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrolysis synthesis technology; Manchester: Nanomaterial production; South Welsh: Scale-up; Surrey: Sustainable industrial systems; Tata Steel: Provision of wastewater samples
Impact Two peer-reviewed high impact journal publications are in progress. Tata Steel is also exploring in investing in the technology. Specific findings that can have an impact at global scale include: 1. Zinc has a current usage rate of 13.5 million tonne per year in products. 2. Secondary sources of zinc include spent batteries, steelmaking dust and MSW. 3. Primary mining causes 1.53 kg CO2 equivalent release per kg of combined metal. 4. Economics enhanced by 6 times if aluminium, copper, zinc in MSW are recovered. 5. 0.005 tonne of zinc per tonne of MSW can be recovered (UK, EU).
Start Year 2015
 
Description Zn recovery from wastewater using microbial electrosynthesis technology 
Organisation University of Newcastle
Country Australia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The team at Surrey University works on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of microbial electrochemical systems, to inform design and scale up decisions. They interact closely with industrial partners to ensure the research is relevant to real world wastewater treatment. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LSCA) is a tool to characterise and assess the environmental, economic and societal aspects of a process, which can help in decision making. For example, in choosing between different waste treatment processes to be installed at an industrial site, LCSA can be used to assess the impacts of environmental, economic and societal aspects of different waste treatment technologies. Within the EU, the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) aims to prevent or minimise pollution of water, air and soil by industrial effluent and other waste from industrial installations, including energy industries, by defining basic obligations for operating licences or permits and by introducing targets, or benchmarks, for energy efficiency. The Directive on the Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants into the Air from Large Combustion Plants (2001/80/EC) - has acted to limit heavy metal emissions via dust control and absorption of heavy metals. Using microbial electrolysis synthesis system, we were able to recover Zn, Cu, etc. from wastewaters. Demand for zinc and its production are increasing at the rates of 4.7% and 2.7% per year. At the current rate of usage, its demand will reach 2.7 times of today's demand by 2050. A maximum of only 7% contribution could be allowed from primary mining to fulfil its increased demand by 2050 and the balance of the demand must be met by secondary recovery of zinc from wastes. We have shown € 1552 can be generated from the recovery of 1 tonne of zinc in the integrated mechanical biological treatment plant of urban waste enhancing the economic margin of the plant by 4%. The microbial electrolysis synthesis technology is being trialled for Zn recovery from wastewater from the galvanisation process of Tata Steel.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrolysis synthesis technology; Manchester: Nanomaterial production; South Welsh: Scale-up; Surrey: Sustainable industrial systems; Tata Steel: Provision of wastewater samples
Impact Two peer-reviewed high impact journal publications are in progress. Tata Steel is also exploring in investing in the technology. Specific findings that can have an impact at global scale include: 1. Zinc has a current usage rate of 13.5 million tonne per year in products. 2. Secondary sources of zinc include spent batteries, steelmaking dust and MSW. 3. Primary mining causes 1.53 kg CO2 equivalent release per kg of combined metal. 4. Economics enhanced by 6 times if aluminium, copper, zinc in MSW are recovered. 5. 0.005 tonne of zinc per tonne of MSW can be recovered (UK, EU).
Start Year 2015
 
Description Zn recovery from wastewater using microbial electrosynthesis technology 
Organisation University of South Wales
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The team at Surrey University works on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of microbial electrochemical systems, to inform design and scale up decisions. They interact closely with industrial partners to ensure the research is relevant to real world wastewater treatment. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LSCA) is a tool to characterise and assess the environmental, economic and societal aspects of a process, which can help in decision making. For example, in choosing between different waste treatment processes to be installed at an industrial site, LCSA can be used to assess the impacts of environmental, economic and societal aspects of different waste treatment technologies. Within the EU, the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) aims to prevent or minimise pollution of water, air and soil by industrial effluent and other waste from industrial installations, including energy industries, by defining basic obligations for operating licences or permits and by introducing targets, or benchmarks, for energy efficiency. The Directive on the Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants into the Air from Large Combustion Plants (2001/80/EC) - has acted to limit heavy metal emissions via dust control and absorption of heavy metals. Using microbial electrolysis synthesis system, we were able to recover Zn, Cu, etc. from wastewaters. Demand for zinc and its production are increasing at the rates of 4.7% and 2.7% per year. At the current rate of usage, its demand will reach 2.7 times of today's demand by 2050. A maximum of only 7% contribution could be allowed from primary mining to fulfil its increased demand by 2050 and the balance of the demand must be met by secondary recovery of zinc from wastes. We have shown € 1552 can be generated from the recovery of 1 tonne of zinc in the integrated mechanical biological treatment plant of urban waste enhancing the economic margin of the plant by 4%. The microbial electrolysis synthesis technology is being trialled for Zn recovery from wastewater from the galvanisation process of Tata Steel.
Collaborator Contribution Newcastle: Microbial electrolysis synthesis technology; Manchester: Nanomaterial production; South Welsh: Scale-up; Surrey: Sustainable industrial systems; Tata Steel: Provision of wastewater samples
Impact Two peer-reviewed high impact journal publications are in progress. Tata Steel is also exploring in investing in the technology. Specific findings that can have an impact at global scale include: 1. Zinc has a current usage rate of 13.5 million tonne per year in products. 2. Secondary sources of zinc include spent batteries, steelmaking dust and MSW. 3. Primary mining causes 1.53 kg CO2 equivalent release per kg of combined metal. 4. Economics enhanced by 6 times if aluminium, copper, zinc in MSW are recovered. 5. 0.005 tonne of zinc per tonne of MSW can be recovered (UK, EU).
Start Year 2015
 
Title The University of Surrey's licensed software TESARREC 
Description The University of Surrey Team invents: TESARREC™ UK Trademark: UK00003321198 includes Goods and Services under the Class: 9, 40 and 42. A few of this exhaustive list include: Computer software for use in evaluating the economic, environmental, social and policy implications of organic compounds productions from waste; Computer software for use in accessing datasets of metal and organic pollutant concentrations in residential, municipal and industrial wastewater streams; Computer software for use in optimising the operational, economic and environmental performances of biorefinery processes and resource recovery technologies. 
IP Reference  
Protection Trade Mark
Year Protection Granted 2020
Licensed Yes
Impact TESARREC™ can outperform much proprietary software in this space which costs several grand. By being non-profit open-source, less wealthy organizations and countries can participate in this critical research to net-zero circular economies. They can readily deploy bioenergy-biorefinery-bioeconomy modules for systemic sustainability evaluations. TESARREC™ can be used to develop and evaluate renewable and biorefinery technologies with carbon capture and sequestration. There are several best practices inherent to TESARREC™, quality control through peer-reviewed modules, and consensus-building in technological innovations. The new features of TESARREC™ are of particular interest to stakeholders (designers, practitioners, policy-makers): 1) mathematical models of renewable and biomass transformation units 2) readily deployable bioenergy, biorefinery and bioeconomy modules, 3) life cycle sustainability assessment to quantitatively analyse sustainability trilemma. With several thousand unique users, TESARREC™ offers in-built standardised modules of biorefinery systems for biofuel, green hydrogen, chemical and energy co-productions. Its expanded capability can attract the broadest range of users, industries, businesses, government, non-governmental and research organisations. The project is especially timely because the atmospheric CO2 level is increasing and the organisations need to jump-start their environmental, social and governance performances. Thus, it is essential to invest in the effective TESARREC™ tool to manage resource scarcity and increasing demand for net-zero transitioning
 
Title Database created for CO2 reduction pathways and microbial electrosynthesis process synthesis 
Description 63 anodic and 72 cathodic reactions of metabolism and 9 metabolic pathways have been collated for assessing technical feasibility and life cycle triple bottom line impacts of microbial electrosynthesis systems for product generation and resource recovery from waste streams. 
Type Of Technology Physical Model/Kit 
Year Produced 2016 
Impact Microbial electrosynthesis assisted metal recovery by metal reduction in cathode is demonstrated here, by taking a range of waste streams from various industries. The cathode can be abiotic or biotic. For majority of the metals, their reduction is thermodynamically spontaneous. Such metals include Au (III), V (V), Cr (VI), Ag (I), Cu(II), Fe (III), and Hg (II), etc. Their reduction is thermodynamically favorable, and the metals can accept electron without any external voltage application. A small amount of electricity may be generated by recovering metals present in waste streams. For some other metal recovery, e.g. Ni (II), Pb (II), Cd (II), and Zn (II), etc. an external power supply to force the electrons travel from the anode to the abiotic cathode is required, due to their lower redox potentials than the anode potentials. For those metals, Au (III), Ag (I), V (V), Cr (VI), Cu(II), Hg (II), and Fe (III) etc. shown respectively from the highest to the lowest market values, for which the redox potential is higher than the anode potential and reduction can be assisted with simultaneous electricity generation, greater than 99% recovery can be obtained except vanadium, for which the recovery is 68% compared to the amount present in the waste stream. The maximum power generated is 6.5 W per m2 for gold; for other metals the maximum power generated is lower than 6.5 W per m2. Cathodic reduction reactions which include primarily carbon dioxide reuse are shown to produce products, such as formic acid, methane, methanol, pyruvate, acetate, succinate, lactate, citrate, caproate, caprylate, butyrate, etc. are shown alongside their redox potentials. Usually, the product from the cathode is a mixture of many chemicals and can be targeted for biofuel production with desired properties, similar to crude oil refineries. This way, targeted recovery of biofuel is feasible. Bioelectrochemical oxidation of organic wastes, wastewaters, lignocellulosic wastes and their hydrolysates and stillage streams from biofuel plants as anode substrates using biotic anode harvests electron, releases proton and produces hydrogen, carbon dioxide, pyruvate, formate and fatty acids, which can be reused in cathode for chemical, bioplastic and biofuel productions. Remaining cathode substrates could be wastewaters and lignocellulosic wastes and the cathode reactions are catalytic- electro- hydrogenation, hydrodeoxygenation and reduction reactions to produce biofuel or bioplastic or chemical as the main products and hydrogen, methane, etc. as the gaseous products. The redox potential for carbon dioxide reduction and reuse in product formation in this way is lower than the anode potential, requiring external voltage or electricity. 
URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115012678
 
Title Global Sustainability and Engineering analysis of Resource recovery Technologies (GSERT) 
Description The software developed, Global Sustainability and Engineering analysis of Resource recovery Technologies (GSERT) at Surrey, applies life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) alongside techno-economic and policy analyses for design and decision making of bioelectrochemical systems (BES) for resource recovery from wastewaters (RRfW), e.g. COD removal thereby wastewater treatment in anode and functional nanomaterial, metal, mineral, salt, etc. recovery and carbon dioxide reuse in added value chemical in cathode. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact GSERT now includes social life cycle assessment (SLCA) of RRfW systems. GSERT in the current state of the art also includes life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods for environmental feasibility assessment. 1. ILCD 2. CML method 3. USA Traci 4. Impact 2002+ 5. Eco-Indicator 99 GSERT also carries out life cycle costing for aconomic feasibility assessment. The sustainability metrics included "go beyond carbon to understand waste as a resource from the perspective of ecological rather than carbon outcomes". These are: savings in primary resources (fossils, land, water and abiotic), global warming, ozone depletion, acidification, urban smog, eutrophication, aquatic and terrestric ecotoxicity; and human health related impacts: human toxicity cancerous and non-cancerous, asthma, etc., potentials. Social country and sector specific indicators fall under human rights, working conditions, community impacts and governance categories. Our vision is to give an informed holistic decision on RRfW using the software, and have a global outreach via its web-based application. The software also explores country specific policy analysis for RRfW systems, including examples from other countries. GSERT has generated licensing interests amongst leading industries in the area of BES. Licensing will be pursued in collaboration with industries. 
URL http://www.theibest.org/Life%20Cycle%20Sustainability%20Assessment%20(LCSA)%20-%20end%20of%20project...
 
Title University of Surrey: TESARREC™ (Trademark: UK00003321198) https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability 
Description The University of Surrey software TESARREC™ (Trademark: UK00003321198) https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability has been protected under the following classes of software and technical product. Class 9 Computer software; Data processing software; Industrial process control software; Computer software for use in evaluating waste recycling and management; Computer software for use in evaluating the technical feasibility and life cycle sustainability of resource recovery from waste streams; Computer software for use in evaluating the techno-economic, environmental and social sustainability of recovery of metals, minerals, salts, and organic compounds from biorefinery processes and resource recovery technologies; Computer software for use in evaluating technical feasibility, life cycle assessment and sustainability of bioremediation and valorisation technologies present in waste streams; Computer software for use in evaluating the dynamic performance of bioremediation and valorisation technologies present in waste streams; Computer software for use in evaluating industrial, residential and municipal waste streams; Computer software for use in evaluating industrial, residential and municipal waste streams associated with metals, minerals, salts and organic compounds; Computer software for use in evaluation of organic compounds synthesized by carbon dioxide capture; Computer software for use in evaluating the dynamic performance of organic compounds productions by carbon dioxide capture; Computer software for use in evaluating technical feasibility and life cycle sustainability of organic compounds productions from carbon dioxide capture; Computer software for use in optimising recovery of metals, minerals, salts and organic compounds from waste streams; Computer software for use in evaluating the dynamic performance of recovery of metals, minerals, salts and organic compounds from waste streams; Computer software for use in waste management supply chain optimisation; Computer software for use in waste management, namely for managing the acquisition, sorting, reusing and recycling of waste to avoid landfill or disposal; Computer software for providing business models relating to waste management; Computer software for evaluation and management of biorefinery; Computer software for use in evaluating the technical feasibility, life cycle assessment and sustainability of biorefinery processes; Computer software for use in evaluating the technical feasibility, life cycle assessment and sustainability of biorefinery lignocellulosic platforms encompassing physical, mechanical, pre-treatment, biochemical, electrochemical, thermochemical and chemical unit operations; Computer software for use in evaluating the social and policy implications of recovery of metals, minerals, salts, and organic compounds from biorefinery processes and resource recovery technologies; Computer software for use in evaluating the social and policy implications of organic compounds productions from carbon dioxide capture; Computer software for use in accessing datasets of metal and organic pollutant concentrations in residential, municipal and industrial wastewater streams; Computer software for use in optimising the operational, economic and environmental performances of biorefinery processes and resource recovery technologies. Class 40 Providing information relating to the recycling of waste; Consultancy relating to the destruction of waste and trash; Consultancy relating to the incineration of waste and trash; Consultancy relating to the recycling of waste and trash; Information, advice and consultancy services relating to the recycling of waste and trash. Class 42 Scientific and technological services; Data modelling services for industrial research and analysis; Industrial analysis and research; Scientific research and analysis; Scientific consultancy; Computer aided industrial research services; Computer aided industrial analysis services; Computer aided scientific research services; Computer aided scientific analysis services; Environmental consultancy services; Research relating to waste analysis; Advisory services relating to environmental protection; Advisory services relating to the safety of the environment; Advisory services relating to pollution control; Advisory services relating to environmental pollution; Providing online, non-downloadable software; Providing software on a global computer network. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2020 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact Sadhukhan et al. at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability in the University of Surrey have created TESARREC™ (UK Trademark: 00003321198, 2015) to solve interdisciplinary sustainability problems by web-based software for use in deduction of default technical, economic, environmental and social life cycle performance evaluations of products and services for net zero greenhouse gas emissions (https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability). 
URL https://tesarrec.web.app/sustainability