演講快訊

2025
01.15

A bioresource system approach to organic waste management in support of a circular bioeconomy

Dr Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero

時間:2025年01月15日 (三) 11:00
主持人:林家裕 教授
講者:Dr Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero
服務單位:BioResource Systems Research Group, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds
講題:A bioresource system approach to organic waste management in support of a circular bioeconomy
地點:4樓創意講堂

摘要 :

Organic waste management has been developed with public health and environment protection in mind, with the majority of implemented approaches favouring safe disposal of treated waste over reuse and recovery.  Nevertheless, nearly 80% of all globally produced organic waste is disposed of to the environment without treatment.  Recent approaches to organic waste management are now exploiting the opportunities arising from the production of renewable energy from waste.  This, in combination with the need to reduce our dependency from fossil fuels, has created processes that optimise the carbon cycle towards methane production (i.e., anaerobic digestion for biogas production), but ignores opportunities from the nutrients embedded in raw and processed organic wastes. Over the years, my work has been dedicated to improve our understanding of the biochemical transformations of carbon-, nitrogen- and phosphorous-rich organic wastes in existing waste management facilities, with the aim to identify optimised routes for maximising resource recovery and reuse, including the production of renewable fuels (ammonia, hydrogen, methane and hydrochar), safe reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation of food and energy crops, and reuse of nutrients in food production. With that in mind, my talk will cover the work conducted at Leeds on organic waste management, with applications in the UK and in the Global South.

學經歷 :

Dr Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero is a water@leeds Associate Professor of BioResourse Systems and Director of Research and Innovation at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds. His early career as an academic at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota (Assistant Professor, 1997-2010) enabled him to develop a deep knowledge in water and wastewater engineering by undertaking both research and teaching activities, together with his role as environmental engineering consultant in projects funded by public and private sectors. In Colombia (1997-2004), his research work focussed on studying the formation and control of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in water supply systems and the performance of wastewater treatment systems based on algal pond technology at high altitude in the tropics.  In the UK (2004 - present), Miller Alonso's research work has been dedicated to study nitrogen transformation pathways and removal mechanisms both in wastewater treatment systems (algal ponds, PhD at Leeds; 2004 - 2008) and in natural environments (riparian zone, postdoctoral position at Queen Mary, University of London; 2008-2009); airborne pathogen transport and control in indoor environments (Postdoctoral position at the University of Leeds; 2009-2011); to develop alga-based technologies for nutrient control/recovery and renewable energy generation and sustainable sanitation services (Lecturer at Leeds; 2011- 2017); and the optimisation of the water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles within processes aimed at dealing with waste streams through resource recovery routes in the UK and in the Global South, via bioenergy generation and nutrient recovery form waste (Associate Professor at Leeds, 2018-present). Dr Camargo-Valero is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, National University of Colombia, Manizales (2013 - present) and Chair of the International Water Association (IWA) Specialist Group on Wastewater Pond and Algal Technologies (2017 – present).