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Enzymic Hydrolysis Won Prestigious Energy Globe Award |
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Written by Son Le
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 00:00 |
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The 2007 International Energy Globe Awards (the World Awards for Sustainability) has been awarded to United Utilities for the ‘MAD but better’ LIFE project. The Awards have been presented annually since 1999 to recognise projects that 'make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternative energy sources’. An international jury, including members from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, now judged the 2007 awards which attracted over 850 entries from projects in 109 different countries and an innovative LIFE-Environment project has been announced as the UK’s national winner for 2007.
United Utilities’ ‘MAD but better’ LIFE project (LIFE05 ENV/UK/000124) won this prestigious prize for its work with enhanced Enzymic Hydrolysis pre-treatment processes that have successfully enhanced safety standards of wastewater sludge. The new technology developed by the LIFE project is capable of accelerating conventional digestion processes threefold and collects valuable biogas as an alternative and renewable energy source. The end product is a high quality sludge cake that is suitable for use as agricultural fertiliser. Four different UK water companies have now adopted the ‘MAD but better’ technology in nine treatment centres and the process is increasingly being acknowledged as best practice in wastewater sludge techniques since it eradicates 99.99% of pathogens and recovers energy content up to 80% through greater organic digestion. As well as benefiting from reduced use of chemical fertilisers the new LIFE funded technology also offers important potential to allow communities to become more self-sufficient in food or energy production and thereby contributing to a sustainable future. These benefits were recognised by the International Energy Globe Awards judges and the LIFE project representatives will receive their prize at a high profile award ceremony in the European Parliament in Brussels on 26 May 2008. For more information on the project read the project summary. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 May 2009 09:23 |
