Wastewater plants produce twice as much greenhouse gases as officially estimated
Wastewater plants emit about twice as much greenhouse gas as previously believed, according to Princeton engineers who used a mobile lab to check plants across the country. In an article published Oct. 8 in the journal Nature Water, a research team led by professors Mark Zondlo and Z. Jason Ren, in collaboration with Prof. Francesca Hopkins of UC-Riverside, reported that collectively sewer plants produced 1.9 times the nitrous oxide gas estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency and 2.4 times the methane. Based on the new measurements, wastewater plants contribute 2.5 percent of U.S. methane emissions and 8.1 percent of nitrous oxide.
Other wastewater treatment news:
- SFGate: This Bay Area tour is so popular, tickets are usually gone within minutes
- Northwestern University: Understanding the climate cost of cleaning our water
- Interesting Engineering: Wastewater plants emit twice the greenhouse gases, US study finds
- Nature: Benchmarking greenhouse gas emissions from US wastewater treatment for targeted reduction
- Nature: Comprehensive assessment of the contribution of wastewater treatment to urban greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions
