Brewing up solutions

Turning beer into watts ... Dr Korneel Rabaey (left) and Professor Jurg Keller

A joint project between UQ and Foster’s to turn beer wastewater into electricity has won $140,000 from the Queensland Government’s Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund.

Advanced Wastewater Management Centre (AWMC) postdoctoral research fellow, Dr Korneel Rabaey, said the technology worked by creating a microbial fuel cell, which feeds continuously on the organics in the brewery wastewater, turning it into watts. The process also produces clean water and renewable (non-polluting) carbon dioxide. He said with the current drought, the smart use of natural resources had never been more important.

“We must learn how to diversify our portfolio of fuels – and we must learn to reduce our energy and water usage,” he said. AWMC Director, Professor Jurg Keller, said the focus in wastewater management had shifted away from simply treating waste, to recovering valuable resources such as water, energy and nutrients.

The team’s work is in collaboration with the University of Ghent, Belgium, and is backed by a $1.3 million Australian Research Council Discovery grant in addition to on-site and financial support from Foster’s. A patent is pending for the technology – believed to be a world first.

On this site