INCOVER at the Local Renewables 2018 - Wastewater utilities and closing local value chains

As part of the Local Renewables Conference 2018, ICLEI organised a session entitled ‘The waste water utility of the future: A key player of the circular city?’

In this session, researchers from the INCOVER project presented their work on innovative technologies for recovering a variety of resources from wastewater. These included: recycled water, organic acids, bio-fertilisers, and bio-methane.

After short pitches from researchers’ side, the floor was opened for questions, and a panel of municipal representatives and other experts from the public waste water sector were asked to provide their opinion on the feasibility of the presented technologies and the usefulness of the products within a circular city context.

 This session was followed by a Stakeholder Dialogue focusing specifically on the upgraded biogas (bio-methane) produced through the INCOVER project’s technology. The Stakeholder Dialogue targeted experts from energy associations and companies, the transport sector and other potential end-users and addressed the overarching question of bio-methane’s future in the European energy market, marketability and financial viability issues, as well as applications, limitations and opportunities.