The initial focus of the Centre will be on commercializing new technology discoveries related to the environment, natural resources and energy; health and related life sciences; and digital media.
Professor David Bagley and Hydromantis Inc. Turning Wastewater into
a Resource
Governments and the private sector invest significant time and money
into treating wastewater to ensure that it is safely discharged into
the environment. Now, the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. and Hydromantis
Inc. are working with Professor David Bagley at the University of Toronto,
to create an energy benefit out of the wastewater treatment process:
generating Hydrogen for use in fuel cells.
Using anaerobic microbiological processes, Dr. Bagley is developing
a process that converts the organic materials in wastewater into hydrogen.
That hydrogen can then be readily converted to electricity in a fuel
cell.
The first beneficiaries of the resulting hydrogen-based energy could
be wastewater treatment facilities themselves, which would use the hydrogen
electricity they generate to power their own operations. Other industries,
like pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical production and pharmaceuticals
can also turn the unavoidable cost of treating their wastewater into
energy that will power their plants. They may, indeed, be able to sell
excess energy for additional revenues.
Dr. Bagley and Hydromantis Inc., the industrial investor and receptor
of the technology, expect to pilot the process this year.