Wastewater resources management for energy recovery from circular economy perspective

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION:Mohanna Zarei, Wastewater resources management for energy recovery from circular economy perspective, Water-Energy Nexus , Elsevier , 2020, 3, 170-185.

Abstract

To remediate significant risks such as increasing resources consumption, climate change, and environmental pollutions which affect resource management and security, energy recovery from wastewater could be a feasible approach towards the circular economy (CE). Wastewater management for energy recovery creates an exceptional opportunity which bringing environmental, political, economic, and social benefits. Transition to CE addresses many of the wastewater reuse obstacles and energy recovery barriers, from public acceptance to financial and policy management. This review focuses on the energy recovery from wastewater resources as a potential alternative in the CE framework and evaluates different energy recovery technologies. Since decision makers have to address challenges which are more related to the societal, regulatory, and political aspects prior to execute fundamental actions, the practical strategies on implementation of energy recovery from wastewater emphasizing the period of 2010–2020 are proposed. Furthermore, several successful case studies for energy recovery from wastewater as a systematic approach, which cover all potential scenarios are reviewed.

Keywords

• Wastewater management
• Energy recovery
• Climate change
• Circular economy
• Environmental pollutions

1. Introduction

Fresh and clean water scarcity, increasing water consumption, and climate change will affect global water security and will cause crisis in the coming years. This increasing demand of natural resources which merges with global water stress, have highlighted the importance of water as a vital resource that remind the need for extensive adoption of water reuse and recycle. With population growth in urban areas, resources need to be used carefully, recycled, and renewed. Wastewater reuse plays a determining role in case of shortage of conventional resources. Based on scientific reports, water consumption will double by 2050 over the world. Wastewater as an influential component of the water cycle should be managed properly across the entire water management cycle, from freshwater abstraction, treatment, distribution, use, collection, and post treatment to it’s reuse and ultimate return to the environment (Fig. 1) (UN Water, 2017). Thus, wastewater treatment for resources recovery is a rational solution to avoid problems derived from droughts and water shortage, especially in countries with water restrictions (Jodar-Abellan et al., 2019).

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Taxonomy

• Integrated Water Management
• Circular Economy
• Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)