Measures for Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plants

Objectives : In modern society, domestic wastewater treatment plants are essential infrastructure. However these facilities are also major sources of significant greenhouse gas emissions. To mitigate the climate crisis and move towards a sustainable society, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from domestic wastewater treatment plants is an urgent task. Achieving this requires the integrated application of technological improvements and institutional measures.Methods : Fundamental strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from domestic wastewater treatment plants include detailed categorization and quantification of emission sources, the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction facilities, and the enforcement of water usage reduction policies. This study uses modeling software to estimate the detailed emissions of greenhouse gases generated during the domestic wastewater treatment process. Additionally, it establishes the baseline treatment process of the domestic wastewater treatment plant and analyzes the greenhouse gas reduction effects of each facility by incorporating technological methods such as anaerobic digesters and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Furthermore, it evaluates the impact of reducing water usage through water footprint (WF) labeling on greenhouse gas emissions from the domestic wastewater treatment plant as an institutional approach.Results and Discussion : In scenario analysis, the implementation of anaerobic digesters results in a 6.7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the baseline, while the addition of CHP systems to anaerobic digestion is predicted to reduce emissions by 29.1%. By integrating CHP systems with anaerobic digesters and applying WF labeling, a reduction of 38.3% in greenhouse gas emissions from the domestic wastewater treatment plant compared to the baseline is anticipated. These results demonstrate the significant role of implementing anaerobic digesters, CHP systems, and WF labeling in achieving the carbon neutrality goal of domestic wastewater treatment plants.Conclusion : The integrated application of technological methods, institutional approaches, and detailed emission calculations through process modeling can be considered crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from domestic wastewater treatment plants.