Objective
Global warming is one of the major challenges for our society and all industry sectors must take responsibility for their emissions and implement new strategies to minimize them. Wastewater systems are recognised to contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions not just through their energy consumption but also through their direct fugitive GHG. Recent studies have shown that direct emissions of fugitive GHG as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are significantly larger than anticipated and can even overcome the indirect emissions. Research carried out during the past 5 years indicates that nitrifying bacteria are the main responsible of N2O emissions in WWTP performing nutrient removal. There is a need to fully understand N2O production mechanisms in these microorganisms. The NITRI-GHG project aims to minimise N2O production from novel pathways active in ammonia oxidizing bacteria, the hydroxylamine oxidation and the nitrifier denitrification pathway.
On the other hand, the project also explores a novel methane oxidation process carried out by nitrifying bacteria. CH4 is being increasingly produced in WWTPs due to the large implementation of anaerobic wastewater treatment technology and anaerobic sludge digestion process. Although methane in the gas phase is captured, significant uncertainty exists regarding the loss of dissolved methane which can be up to 50%. The introduction of an economically feasible methane oxidation unit in the typical polishing step of anaerobic digester effluents could significantly lower the overall direct GHG emissions from WWTP.
The approach of this project is to gain fundamental understanding at the micro level to develop advanced operational strategies to reduce N2O and CH4 emissions from our WWTPs. The project combines environmental engineering with microbial ecology tools to generate new knowledge immediately applicable to WWTP management.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrolysis
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)
Coordinator
17003 Girona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.