Spanish researchers produce biodiesel feedstock from human wastewater

In Spain, the EFE news agency reports researchers at the Pablo de Olavide University produce fatty matter for biodiesel that does not come from plant cultivation but from human-generated waste that circulates through urban wastewater treatment plants.

The proposal made by these UPO researchers is to use this sludge to feed a small nematode worm called Caenorhabiditis elegans and it has turned out to be an excellent food, generating half a kilogram of nematode worms for every kilo of sludge, in less than a week. , because the worm feeds and reproduces.

In this way, this sludge can be quickly reduced and converted into worms, whose fat is the basis for the production of biodiesel.

Within the framework of this study, a proof of concept has been carried out on a laboratory scale, demonstrating that it is plausible and could be applied in a new wastewater treatment process that is characterized by its environmental sustainability and economic profitability, through a completely innovative based on industrial biotechnology.