Periodic Reporting for period 5 - GREENER (InteGRated systems for Effective ENvironmEntal Remediation)
Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2023-08-31
Increasing chemical pollution seriously compromises the health of ecosystems and humans worldwide. Hazardous compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals and emerging pollutants contaminate soils/sediments, ground and surface waters. To prevent/minimise the risks associated with the accumulations of these chemicals in the environment it is key to establish low-cost/green methodologies for the treatment and redevelopment of contaminated areas. Several physico-chemical methods have been explored to remove pollutants in the environment, but these are complex, energy consuming or expensive. The exploitation of the capability of bacteria, fungi and phototrophs to transform toxic contaminants into harmless end-products, can lead instead to cheap and sustainable bioremediation alternatives. GREENER proposes the development of innovative, efficient and low-cost hybrid solutions that integrate bioremediation technologies with bio-electrochemical systems (BES). BES, such as microbial fuel cells, break down organic contaminants through the action of electroactive bacteria while generating electrical current. We will investigate the synergetic effect of different bioremediation strategies and demonstrate effective pollutants removal in water and soil/sediments, while generating side products of interest, such as bioelectricity. The type and entity of contamination, along with the specific physico-chemical/microbial characteristics of the environment to be depolluted, will feed into a decision-making toolbox. The latter will allow the establishment of ad hoc integrated solutions, which will consider effectiveness of biodegradation, costs, environmental risks and social aspects. Fundamental research will be performed at lab-scale, while pilot-tests will be used to proof the scaling-up feasibility for field applications. Environmental benefits and risks, compared to standard remediation approaches, including energy efficiency, will be investigated.
During the 4,5 years of the GREENER project the consortium has reached the following main achievements:
- In WP3 a total of thirteen polluted sites (12 in Europe, and 1 in China – among these 4 are the polluted soils sites, while 9 are of polluted water sites) have been sampled, characterized, and monitored. In three polluted soils, microbial consortia have been isolated and characterized. A synthetic community for pollutant degradation was developed and tested at pilot scale. Innovative microbial isolation methods have been developed for the isolation of the most optimal total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) degrading consortia from contaminated soils.
- Within WP4, a total of seven individual technologies and three hybrid technologies for the removal of different pollutants in water have been developed. While within WP5, four individual technologies and two hybrid systems for the removal of various soil pollutants have been developed. The targeted pollutants were hydrocarbons, heavy metals, azo-dyes, antibiotics and pesticides. For all the technologies, information related to the pilot design, operational parameters, and scaled-up conditions were defined.
- For the technology scaling-up, a 5 steps decision-making diagram and technology evaluation methodology were used. Five technologies were demonstrated at field scale within WP6: (i) Improved Biopile in Spain for hydrocarbon removal, including biostimulation and bioaugmentation strategy using synthetic microbial community; (ii) Ecopile 2.0 in Ireland and China for hydrocarbon removal combining phytoremediation and microbial biostimulation/bioaugmentation; (iii) Bioelectrochemical systems for hydrocarbon degradation in Spain; (iv) Bioelectrochemical systems coupled with phytoremediation for removal of metal(liod)s in ground water and; (v) Biological in-situ metal precipitation in Belgium. Results have showed the scalability of the technologies as well as the efficiency for different pollutants removal.
- The work developed in WP7 demonstrated the techno-economic assessment of the technologies and the different sustainability aspects, including environmental, economic, and social - using Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Life Cycle Costing analysis, Life Cycle Assessment). The regulatory aspects were reported and ecotoxicity tests, using different in-vitro and in-vivo models, were performed to analyse the toxicity before and after remediation.
- Considering different results from the project, a methodology for selection of the most suitable remedial treatment or technology for a particular contaminant was developed. The proposed methodology involves three evaluation stages, starting with a larger number of technologies in the first stage and subsequently reducing to 2-3 technologies at the last stage (top-bottom approach). The three-stage working-frame proposed provides the remediation. Further, it helped the GREENER experts, by enabling a well-structured decision-making tool for appropriate selection of remedial approaches for the treatment of soil and/or water. This framwork also provided a solid foundation for discussion with stakeholders (e.g. site owner) and the regulatory authorities as indispensable components of the remedial project.
- GREENER project has successfully produced 13 Key Exploitable Results (KERs), each accompanied by well-defined exploitation routes and business strategies designed to advance the project’s goal of promoting eco-friendly solutions for contaminated sites. Additionally, a robust dissemination strategy, comprising various activities, has been established to support these efforts. One impactful strategy was the continuation of the GREENER Talks, a series of informative video presentations where project partners showcase their progress and elucidate how these developments contribute to the project's broader objective. In addition, the consortium has attended several dissemination events and released a total of 45 publications.
- In WP3 a total of thirteen polluted sites (12 in Europe, and 1 in China – among these 4 are the polluted soils sites, while 9 are of polluted water sites) have been sampled, characterized, and monitored. In three polluted soils, microbial consortia have been isolated and characterized. A synthetic community for pollutant degradation was developed and tested at pilot scale. Innovative microbial isolation methods have been developed for the isolation of the most optimal total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) degrading consortia from contaminated soils.
- Within WP4, a total of seven individual technologies and three hybrid technologies for the removal of different pollutants in water have been developed. While within WP5, four individual technologies and two hybrid systems for the removal of various soil pollutants have been developed. The targeted pollutants were hydrocarbons, heavy metals, azo-dyes, antibiotics and pesticides. For all the technologies, information related to the pilot design, operational parameters, and scaled-up conditions were defined.
- For the technology scaling-up, a 5 steps decision-making diagram and technology evaluation methodology were used. Five technologies were demonstrated at field scale within WP6: (i) Improved Biopile in Spain for hydrocarbon removal, including biostimulation and bioaugmentation strategy using synthetic microbial community; (ii) Ecopile 2.0 in Ireland and China for hydrocarbon removal combining phytoremediation and microbial biostimulation/bioaugmentation; (iii) Bioelectrochemical systems for hydrocarbon degradation in Spain; (iv) Bioelectrochemical systems coupled with phytoremediation for removal of metal(liod)s in ground water and; (v) Biological in-situ metal precipitation in Belgium. Results have showed the scalability of the technologies as well as the efficiency for different pollutants removal.
- The work developed in WP7 demonstrated the techno-economic assessment of the technologies and the different sustainability aspects, including environmental, economic, and social - using Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Life Cycle Costing analysis, Life Cycle Assessment). The regulatory aspects were reported and ecotoxicity tests, using different in-vitro and in-vivo models, were performed to analyse the toxicity before and after remediation.
- Considering different results from the project, a methodology for selection of the most suitable remedial treatment or technology for a particular contaminant was developed. The proposed methodology involves three evaluation stages, starting with a larger number of technologies in the first stage and subsequently reducing to 2-3 technologies at the last stage (top-bottom approach). The three-stage working-frame proposed provides the remediation. Further, it helped the GREENER experts, by enabling a well-structured decision-making tool for appropriate selection of remedial approaches for the treatment of soil and/or water. This framwork also provided a solid foundation for discussion with stakeholders (e.g. site owner) and the regulatory authorities as indispensable components of the remedial project.
- GREENER project has successfully produced 13 Key Exploitable Results (KERs), each accompanied by well-defined exploitation routes and business strategies designed to advance the project’s goal of promoting eco-friendly solutions for contaminated sites. Additionally, a robust dissemination strategy, comprising various activities, has been established to support these efforts. One impactful strategy was the continuation of the GREENER Talks, a series of informative video presentations where project partners showcase their progress and elucidate how these developments contribute to the project's broader objective. In addition, the consortium has attended several dissemination events and released a total of 45 publications.
The greatest technological progress made during the GREENER project was related to the successful demonstration of different remediation technologies, such as in-situ metal(loid) precipitation via sulfate reduction at a real contaminated site in Belgium. The experience gained here offers new possibilities to use this technology at other sites affected by metal(loid) contamination and consider this technology for full scale-treatment of the contamination plume at the investigation site. Additionally, 7 ecopiles have been monitored in the project to understand the evolution of the microbial community. This information, together with the omics data (metagenomics, transcriptomic, and proteomics) and metabolic models, provides the consortiums with the insight to understand the microbial community associated to a specific contaminant and the potential degradation routes. Three innovative approaches for isolation of TPHs degrading consortia from soil have been developed. These approaches, together with the construction of artificial aggregates, have shown progress beyond the state-of-the-art to increase the degradation rate of recalcitrant components and reduce the remediation time. Additionally, the project have shown the effectiveness of bio-electrochemical systems by itself or in combination with other remediation technologies to deal with different types of pollutants, mainly in polluted sites with co-contamination.