Andrew Shipley

Title of Work: 

A Blueprint of Climate Friendly Wastewater Treatment Plants: Case study of the EGLV WWTP in Bottrop

Abstract:

Water is necessary for human life. We use it for drinking, cooking, recreation, and much more. However, in order to use water, we also pollute it. Wastewater contains microbes and chemicals that harm human health and the environment. To prevent this we have built wastewater treatment plants to clean the wastewater. Although wastewater treatment plants are necessary, they also require a high amount of electricity to operate. In many cities, wastewater treatment plants are the largest energy user. This comes at a high cost to the end user and taxpayer. When the electricity comes from the burning of fossil fuels, that also has a negative impact on the climate, which the public also pays for. The Emschergenossenchaft and Lippeverband (EGLV) (a water management organization based in Essen, Germany) has a different vision. The EGLV owned wastewater treatment plant in Bottrop, Germany produces its own electricity from climate friendly or neutral energy sources such as: Biogas produced from sludge digestion, wind, solar etc. This wastewater treatment plant is a great example for plants in the United States. This project gives specific recommendations for how aspects of the Bottrop plant can be implemented. 

Title of Work (Global Language):  

Eine Blaupause für Klimafreundliche Kläranlagen: Fallstudie von der EGLV Kläranlage in Bottrop

Abstract (Global Language):

Wasser ist notwendig für menschliche Leben. Wir benutzen es zum Trinken, Kochen, Erholung und viel mehr. Jedoch um Wasser zu nutzen, muss man es auch verschmutzen.  Abwasser enthält Mikroben und Chemikalien, die die Umwelt und die menschliche Gesundheit schädigen. Um das zu verhindern, werden Kläranlagen gebaut, die das Abwasser reinigen. Obwohl Kläranlagen wichtig sind, brauchen sie auch viel Strom zu operieren. In vielen Städten sind Kläranlagen die größten Strombenutzer. Die Kosten dieses Stroms sind für die Endverbraucher und Steuerzahler zu zahlen. Wenn der Strom von eine Fossilerbrennstoffquelle kommt, hat das eine negative Auswirkung auf die Klima, die auch für die Publikum zu zahlen ist. Die Emschergenossenschaft und Lippeverband (EGLV) haben eine andere Vision. Die EGLV besitzende Kläranlage in Bottrop, DE produziert alle ihren eigenen Strom von klimafreundlichen oder neutralen Quellen. Diese Energie kommt von verschiedenen Quellen: Biogas von Klärschlamm, Windmühlen, Solarenergie usw. Diese Kläranlage ist ein gutes Beispiel für Kläranlagen in den Vereinigten Staaten. Dieses Projekt gibt konkrete Empfehlungen, wie Aspekte der Bottrop Anlage umgesetzt werden können.  

Elevator Pitch Video

Elevator Pitch Transcript: 

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Andrew Keith Shipley: Hello! My name is Andrew Shipley today. I'd like to try to convince you to come see my poster presentation at the IGP summit.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: Which will be about a blueprint of climate friendly wastewater treatment plants: Case study of the EGLV wastewater treatment plant in Bottrop.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: Here at NAU, I study environmental engineering and German,

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Andrew Keith Shipley: and I studied abroad in Dortmund, Germany, at the Technische Universität Dortmund.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: My internship was with the Emschergennosenschaft und Lippeverband which I will shorten to EGLV. For both of our time.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: and the EGLV is essentially a

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Andrew Keith Shipley: water management organization.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: They manage the catchment areas of the Emscher and Lippe rivers which runs through Nordrhein-Westfallen Germany

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Andrew Keith Shipley: in and around Dortmund.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: they as a part of their water management. They handle flood management. They handle wastewater treatment, which is, of course, what I want to talk to you about today.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: The projects that I was helping them with while I worked for them

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Andrew Keith Shipley: was their

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Andrew Keith Shipley: regional project with the European Union. So, they were working with a series of

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Andrew Keith Shipley: partners in various different countries to look at ways of making wastewater treatment plants more sustainable, especially in terms of their energy usage.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: wastewater treatment. Plants are incredibly necessary to protect human health

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Andrew Keith Shipley: and the environment from all the nasty stuff we put in wastewater, including, of course, human waste

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Andrew Keith Shipley: chemicals and pharmaceuticals, for example.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: But in order to operate wastewater treatment, plants also require a huge amount of energy

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Andrew Keith Shipley: which in many cities makes them the largest energy user. So there's, of course, a big climate impact there, too, when the energy comes from

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Andrew Keith Shipley: fossil fuel sources. And so what the EGLV and its partners were doing, were looking at various energy producing methods that they could implement at these wastewater treatment plants, and one of their big inspirations for this project was the EGLV wastewater treatment plant in Bottrop, which is 100% energy self-sufficient.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: So, it produces all of its own electricity from climate, friendly sources, including biogas, solar, wind, among others.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: And so, what I've done in my project is, take a look at this one plant in Bottrop, and really studied what? Where its major successes are.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: and I have created recommendations for how that

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Andrew Keith Shipley: success could be applied to US plants, and how we could make US plants more sustainable.

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Andrew Keith Shipley: and so, I hope that piques your interest, and I hope to see you at my

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Andrew Keith Shipley: presentation. Thank you.

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