Ecological engineering

Summary

Ecological engineering uses ecology and engineering to predict, design, construct or restore, and manage ecosystems that integrate "human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both". Origins, key concepts, definitions, and applications Ecological engineering emerged as a new idea in the early 1960s, but its definition has taken several decades to refine, its implementation is still undergoing adjustment, and its broader recognition as a new paradigm is relatively recent. Ecological engineering was introduced by Howard Odum and others as utilizing natural energy sources as the predominant input to manipulate and control environmental systems. The origins of ecological engineering are in Odum's work with ecological modeling and ecosystem simulation to capture holistic macro-patterns of energy and material flows affecting the efficient use of resources. Mitsch and Jorgensen summarized five basic concepts that differentiate ecological en

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_engineering

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A sustainable production of algal biomass integrating wastewater treatment and bioenergy generation

Mariluz Bagnoud, Christian Ludwig, Céline Terrettaz

This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing renewable microalgae biomass using as a main nutrient source a secondary wastewater stream. It is planned to purify the wastewater by the growth of algal biomass while producing a feedstock that can be used for the bioenergy sector. If important biomass density is achieved, this strategy will be adopted in a novel process named SunCHem (proposed at the EPFL-PSI SWT group) using hydrothermal treatment of microalgae to produce methane. Wastewater treatment coupled with algal biomass production is particularly suitable for an implementation in Colombia as it requires low capital investment and it allows the generation of added-value through the valorization of the biomass. In addition, the climatic conditions in Colombia (high annual solar irradiance) are favorable to the installation of this highly ecological sound process. This concept may be interesting to municipal utilities, industrial companies and agricultural firms, since it helps to solve many of their pollution issues. In a preliminary study it was demonstrated the efficient nutrient removal by Dunaliella salina microalgae using a primary treated wastewater effluent1. This microalgae strain reduced the nitrate and phosphate load in the wastewater at 84% and 90% respectively and its specific growth rate of 0.46 d-1 was comparable with that achieved using a standard nutrient media (0.47 d-1). We are currently comparing the ability of three microalgae (Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Ankistrodesmus) strains to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in a conventional media. These three microalgae were selected due to an appropriate carbon balance for their future hydrothermal conversion into methane.

2012

Advantages and limits of co-digestion in wastewater treatment plants – comparison to co-digestion in agriculture

Nathalie Bachmann

The Master Project offers a survey on several aspects of co-digestion in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and in agriculture. The description of the legal context and the technical processes present the basis for the subsequent analysis of the co-digestion at the WWTP in Bern and in four agricultural installations. For the ecological evaluation a material flow analysis was made to determine the nutrient loss due to co-digestion in WWTP. In addition, the energy and CO2 balances were established to understand environmental impacts. For the economical evaluation financial indicators were calculated in order to judge profitability and efficiency of the installations. The social impacts analyzed include worker security, financial risk, employments and regional economy. Considering the loss of nutrient, a threshold for co-digestion in WWTP is proposed: if energy loss by the nutrients exceeds the net energy production of a co-substrate, it should not be digested in WWTP. The study shows that sustainability of co-digestion does not depend on the sector but on the modalities of each plant. The main factors determining sustainability are size and degree of capacity utilization of the plant, the degree of utilization of produced energy, transport distance of co-substrates, and, in agriculture, the storage and deploying of the digestion end product.

2009

While oligotrophic deep groundwaters host active microbes attuned to the low-end of the bioenergetics spectrum, the ecological constraints on microbial niches in these ecosystems and their consequences for microbiome convergence are unknown. Here, we provide a genome-resolved, integrated omics analysis comparing archaeal and bacterial communities in disconnected fracture fluids of the Fennoscandian Shield in Europe. Leveraging a dataset that combines metagenomes, single cell genomes, and metatranscriptomes, we show that groundwaters flowing in similar lithologies offer fixed niches that are occupied by a common core microbiome. Functional expression analysis highlights that these deep groundwater ecosystems foster diverse, yet cooperative communities adapted to this setting. We suggest that these communities stimulate cooperation by expression of functions related to ecological traits, such as aggregate or biofilm formation, while alleviating the burden on microorganisms producing compounds or functions that provide a collective benefit by facilitating reciprocal promiscuous metabolic partnerships with other members of the community. We hypothesize that an episodic lifestyle enabled by reversible bacteriostatic functions ensures the subsistence of the oligotrophic deep groundwater microbiome. Ecological constraints on microbial niches in oligotrophic deep groundwaters remain elusive. This study provides support for the existence of a common core microbiome in two deep groundwater biomes of the Fennoscandian Shield using a genome-resolved, integrated omics analysis.

NATURE RESEARCH2021