The ELECTRA project meeting kicked off last week in Switzerland

After the successful outcome of the H2020 iMETland, the results will go beyond the project life. METfilter, the spinoff company from IMDEA Agua and CENTA Foundation, participates on the recently funded European Project Horizon 2020 ELECTRA (Electricity driven Low Energy and Chemical input Technology foR Accelerated bioremediation). The project meeting kicked off last week at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) in Muttenz.

This 4-year H2020 project is coordinated by the School of Life Sciences at FHNW and University of Ghent. ELECTRA is the first project on bioremediation between the European Union and China and is part of the EU-China flagship initiatives on biotechnologies for health and environment.

With a total of 6.8 million euros, the consortium consists of 22 universities, research centres and companies in the EU and China. The project aims at improving bioremediation of ground waters, wastewater as well as sediments and soil, using innovative approaches based on microbial electrochemical technologies, committed to have a low energy and contamination impacts on site.

Together with 17 European partners, five research institutions acting as international partners constitute the consortium funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Poten Environment, a large Chinese company, has a key role in replicating field test experiments from European sites to Chinese spots.

METland® for removing pollutants

Abraham Esteve Núñez, IMDEA Water Researcher and CSO at METfilter, explained that "the company will explore the use of the METland® technology for removing micropollutants like antibiotics, hormones and pesticide present in wastewater“.

The ELECTRA approach will accelerate the elimination of several classes of pollutants and mixtures thereof in contaminated wastewater, groundwater, sediment and soil. The first set of microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) employs those requiring low energy input and no chemical addition. The second set comprises MET, which necessitate no energy input and minimal chemical amendment. ELECTRA technologies will build on recent groundbreaking advances in MET to develop them for environmental bioremediation applications. Furthermore, ELECTRA will test the four most efficient technologies during field trials under various environmentally relevant conditions (wastewater, groundwater, soil, and sediment) in both Europe and China to prove their efficiency and robustness through mirroring tests concept.

Learn more:  https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/220367/factsheet/es

ELECTRA has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement N. 826244. The information reflects only the author’s view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained.