The comprehensive findings from Colorado State University were highlighted in Nature Communications Earth & Environment in a first-of-its-kind study.
Braden Limb is the first author on the paper and a Ph.D. student in the Department of Systems Engineering.
He said the findings are a key initial step to categorize and understand potential green solutions for wastewater.
“It is a starting point to understand what routes are available to us now and how financing strategies can elevate water treatment from a somewhat local issue into something that is addressed globally through market incentives.”
Findings center around both point-source water treatment and non-point sources of water pollution.
Traditional point-source water treatment facilities such as sewage plants remove problem nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus before releasing water back into circulation.
Limb said that rather than building more gray-infrastructure treatment facilities to address those increasing sources, the paper explores green approaches financed through carbon markets that can tackle both types simultaneously.
Carbon financing is a mechanism aimed at mitigating climate change by incentivizing activities that reduce emissions or sequester them from the atmosphere.
Researchers from universities have demonstrated that a shift to environmentally friendly wastewater treatment methods in the U. S. that makes use of carbon-financing’s potential could, over the course of 40 years, save an astounding $15.6 billion and just under 30 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions.
In a groundbreaking study, Colorado State University’s extensive findings were featured in Nature Communications Earth and Environment. This piece is by Walter Scott, Jr. The College of Engineering looks at the possible financial costs of moving to green infrastructure and technological advancements that go beyond standard gray-water treatment methods.
The study offers thorough baseline metrics and examines the relationship between emissions, costs, and treatment capabilities for utility operators and decision-makers. It is based on data gathered at over 22,000 facilities.
A Ph.D. candidate named Braden Limb is the paper’s first author. C. scholar in the Systems Engineering Department. In the Mechanical Engineering Department, he works as a research associate as well. According to him, the results represent a critical first step in classifying and comprehending viable green wastewater treatment options.
According to him, “these results paint a picture of what the potential for implementing green practices in this sector is—both in terms of money saved and overall emissions reduced.”. It is a beginning point to comprehend the paths that are currently open to us and how financing strategies can transform the problem of water treatment from something that is largely localized into something that is addressed globally through market incentives. “.”.
In collaboration with Brigham Young University and the University of Colorado Boulder, the research was finished. The main focus of the findings is on non-point sources of water pollution as well as point-source water treatment.
Conventional point-source water treatment facilities, like sewage treatment plants, filter out harmful nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen before reintroducing water into the system. The Environmental Protection Agency keeps an eye on this system, also referred to as gray infrastructure.
In the event that regulations are tightened, facilities would have to produce more energy and consequently produce more emissions in order to meet the newly permitted thresholds. Currently operating facilities consume two percent of all energy in the U.S. s. and 45 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, according to Limb.
An additional important source of contaminated freshwater in the U.S. s. originates from non-point source activities like agricultural fertilizer runoff into rivers. Urban development and wildfires, for example, are two other non-point sources of pollution that are aided by climate change.
According to Limb, the paper investigates green strategies funded by carbon markets that can address both types at the same time, as opposed to constructing more gray-infrastructure treatment facilities to address those on the rise.
“Instead of developing yet another treatment facility, there might be a shift to nature-based solutions like creating wetlands or reforestation,” he stated. Over a 40-year period, those options could sequester over 4 point 2 million carbon dioxide emissions annually. They also offer other benefits that should be pursued, like lower overall costs. “.
Through the use of incentives, carbon financing works to mitigate climate change by lowering emissions or removing them from the atmosphere. Businesses voluntarily purchase “credits” on the open market, which can be obtained in a number of ways, representing a decrease or removal of carbon from the atmosphere. In an effort to meet sustainability targets, the credit balances the institution’s operational emissions.
In addition to serving as a source of new funding for the advancement or expansion of innovative strategies, these exchanges encourage the development of sustainable activities.
The problem is initially more localized than it is for air quality and carbon, even though there are comparable financing markets for water. The value of water market trades has historically been constrained by this dynamic. In addition to leveraging the carbon markets to alter some of the financial incentives farmers receive regarding water treatment and the effects of their operations, the paper makes recommendations for how to improve these currently operating markets.
The researchers discovered that by utilizing the markets, $679 million in revenue could be produced annually. This presents a chance to further encourage the use of green infrastructure solutions in water quality trading programs in order to meet regulatory standards.
Professor Jason Quinn of mechanical engineering is one of the study’s co-authors. Although the results have certain limitations, he said that modeling the problem and the current opportunity is an important first step. In order to further develop the necessary carbon credit methodology with stakeholders, he said that the findings in the paper have supported new research at CSU with funding from the National Science Foundation.
