A research team in Taiwan say that photo responsive resources (materials that react to light) have the potential to redefine wastewater treatment by using light to regulate the process and increase the use of low carbon infrastructure.
The study showed how resources can be recovered by using solar powered systems instead of the conventional process, which uses more electricity and chemicals.
The new system reduces greenhouse gas use by viewing wastewater pollutants as valuable assets like nutrient reuse and energy harvest.
The rapid growth in global population and urbanisation has put pressure on freshwater availability, it is predicted that nearly 70% of the worlds population will live in urban areas by 2050.
A new eco-friendly system could tackle wastewater plants contribution of around 1.5% of global CO2 emissions (0.6 Gt per year).
Existing resource-recovery approaches suffer from limited selectivity, high regeneration costs, secondary waste generation and high electricity requirements. But the light-responsive system offers remote controllability, operational flexibility and compatibility with renewable solar energy.
