Nowadays, energy management is a key priority across society—including at wastewater treatment plants, where various strategies are being pursued to achieve energy self-sufficiency. One such approach involves using locally generated food waste as a co-substrate in the anaerobic stabilization of sewage sludge to boost biogas production. Biogas itself forms a fundamental pillar of the energy system at wastewater treatment facilities. These sites also offer opportunities to improve the energy balance through complementary methods, such as recovering residual heat from wastewater or implementing renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy is inherently unstable, with production fluctuating not only seasonally but also daily.
The main goal of this project is to develop a mathematical model that can accurately predict when and how much food waste should be dosed into anaerobic stabilization tanks to minimize the instability of energy production from renewable sources. The project’s output could help optimize the use of thermal or electrical energy during periods of surplus production at the local scale.
The project “Biogas as a Stabilizing Element of the Energy Mix in Community Energy Systems” is co-financed with state support from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic under the Sigma Programme.
