The Stevens Indicator, Stevens Institute of Technology
Harnessing microalgae to transform wastewater into green energy
Stevens environmental engineering professor Christos Christodoulatos Ph.D. ’91 admits sustainability was about the last thing on his mind when he began his career nearly 30 years ago.
“When we had to clean a site that was contaminated, we didn’t think of how to clean it in the most effective way in terms of energy,” he explains. “We just wanted to clean it.”
Three decades later, balancing environmental impact with long-term natural resource management is now his top-most concern.
Since 2014, Christodoulatos, who is also director of the Stevens Center for Environmental Systems, has been leading a multi-million-dollar sustainability initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Part of the Army’s Net Zero Initiative established during the Obama administration, the multifaceted, multidepartmental project aims to improve energy efficiency, water consumption and solid waste reduction at military industrial base facilities through sustainability best practices.
“The target is to have zero emissions and zero waste,” Christodoulatos says.
One primary focus of the project entails generating biomass energy by cultivating microalgae on industrial wastewater. . . .
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