Life Methamorphosis

On 18th and 19th of June a new edition of the Conference on Biomethanization of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was held in Barcelona, organized by the Environmental Biotechnology Group of the University of Barcelona (UB) and with the support of the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG).

The BIOMETA 2018 Conference focused on the concept of circular economy applied to waste management; to know examples and new perspectives of both codigestion and anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of MSW; in the optimal management of biomethanization plants; and in the possibilities existing in transforming biogas into biomethane, bioethanol and other bioproducts such as hydrolytic enzymes, biosurfactants and biopesticides. Environmentally, the Conference is focus on greenhouse gas emissions reduction and technically, on the adaptation to the change of type of waste that is going to reach to the treatment plants from 2025.

In the session "Perspectives of industrial biogas plants", Antonio Giménez (Aqualia) presented the LIFE Methamorphosis project and the Smart Green Gas project as experiences regarding the efficiency in the treatment of leachates and the refining of biogas. Aqualia is coordinator of both projects in which the necessary technology is developed and applied to generate biofuel for vehicular use. For the LIFE Methamorphosis, the biofuel is based on methane from the wastewater treatment of Ecoparc 2 (Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona); and for the Smart Green Gas, biofuel is based on methane from the urban wastewater treatment plant El Portal (Jerez, Cádiz).

It is worth mentioning the international seminar offered during the last day of the Conference, by the RES URBIS project on the production of bioplastics obtained from the organic fraction of the MSW, framed by the European Financing Program Horizon 2020 and in which the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) is involved.