ENERGY FROM WASTE
‘ AQUA, VIGOR, ET VASTUM’ – SQUARING THE CIRCLE The United Nations assessed that during 2017 in excess of 80% of the world’s wastewater was discharged into the environment without any filtration or disinfection, but wastewater contains plenty of raw material that can be turned into fuel. In the second of three articles, the UN’s assessment has prompted Solicitor Peter McHugh and Forensic Engineer Professor Robert Jackson to discuss the challenges facing the UK in continuing to satisfy its growing needs relating to ‘Water, Energy & Waste’ whilst simultaneously protecting against risks to human health emanating from environmental pollution. 48
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quaring the circle may comprise the extraction and production of energy from various sources of waste, including organic materials that are inherently injurious to human health, whilst simultaneously creating a sustainable source of drinking water. By way of example consider hydrogen gas, the lightest and most plentiful chemical in the known universe and the first element in the periodic table with an atomic number of one. The anaerobic digestion of a number of organic wastes including food waste, agricultural waste and wastewater can produce hydrogen, together with valuable acids. In so doing the process of digestion, using microorganisms comprising anaerobic bacteria, presents a sustainable solution to a number of environmental challenges by:
REMOVING WASTE K CREATING A CLEAN FUEL K PRODUCING VALUEADDED CHEMICALS The circle could be considered ‘squared’ when non-greenhouse hydrogen gas, a zero carbon cleanburning fuel, is burnt in air to produce water and to release energy:
ORGANIC WASTE K (2H2) HYDROGEN + (O2) OXYGEN K (2H2O) WATER + ENERGY Electro-active anaerobic bacteria were first discovered in 1993 and have been identified as living in environments inhospitable to most other life forms. Such bacteria are essential to microbial fuel cells which provide one form of sustainable biotechnology by generating electricity from biological wastes. Electro-active bacteria occur naturally in sewers and wastewater treatment plants, and consume organic matter whilst at the same time producing electrons, electrically charged subatomic particles essential to chemical, electrical and magnetic activity. These bacteria also grow biological ‘wires’ comprising microscopic filaments called ‘pili’, the Latin word for ‘hairs’, that are approximately 1/100,000 the width of a human hair. The electrons produced from the organic matter are subsequently conducted through these ‘wires’ in the form of electricity to produce hydrogen from the wastewater being treated.
ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2021
Once again, the circle could be considered ‘squared’. The ‘Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice’ was issued in November 2018 and sets out practical guidance on how to meet waste duty of care requirements. It is issued under Section 34 (7) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation to the duty of care set out in Section 34 (1) of that Act. This Code applies to any party engaged in importing, producing, carrying, keeping, treating, disposing of or, as a dealer or broker having control of, certain controlled wastes in England or Wales. Failure to comply with the duty of care is an offence with no upper limit on the court’s power to fine. In some instances a fixed penalty notice may be issued for failure to comply with the duty of care in place of prosecution. The Code is admissible as evidence in legal proceedings for S34 (1) offences and its rules must be taken into account where relevant to questions raised in the case. The regulator for the duty of care is the Environment Agency, the body responsible for environmental regulation in England together with Natural Resources Wales in Wales and local authorities. Excluding industrial and commercial processes, for example in the case of householders who occupy domestic properties, a separate duty of care applies which is limited to requiring parties to take all reasonable measures available to them to ensure their waste is only transferred to an authorised person. Waste not classed as controlled waste include: • Waste listed in Article 2 of the waste framework directive e.g. waste waters, decommissioned explosives, radioactive waste; • Waste containing animal byproducts where it is collected and transported in line with animal by-products regulations; and • Sewage, sludge or septic tank sludge where it is supplied, managed or used in ways described in Regulation 3 of the Controlled Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2012. To examine current and ongoing problems it is perhaps prudent to reflect on previous cases. 163 years ago Londoners were suffering from ‘The Great Stink’ that emanated from the River Thames and was created by
