BIOFUSE: hybrid platforms for treatment of organic solid waste and industrial wastewater towards the intensification of sustainable energy transition

• Grant number: 25/05170-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2026
• End date: March 31, 2031
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Josiel Martins Costa
• Grantee: Josiel Martins Costa
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Piracicaba
• Associated researchers: Jason Patrick Hallett ; Julius Bernardus van Lier
• Associated scholarship(s): 26/05163-5 - BIOFUSE: Hybrid platforms for treatment of organic solid waste and industrial wastewater towards the intensification of sustainable energy transition, BP.JP

Abstract

Approximately 80% of the energy produced worldwide is derived from fossil fuels. Therefore, a gradual transition toward a more sustainable energy system is an urgent contemporary demand. Bioenergy can contribute to this new system through the production of biomethane. Improperly managed organic solid waste contributes not only to greenhouse gas emissions but also to soil contamination. Similarly, lipid-rich industrial wastewater poses an environmental concern due to its high levels of fats, suspended solids, and nutrients, which, if discharged untreated, can lead to oxygen depletion, impermeabilization, eutrophication, and toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. In this context, the present project aims to establish a research group focused on the treatment of organic solid waste and lipid-rich wastewater through a hybrid platform composed of ligninolytic fungi, anaerobic digestion, and a fungi-bacteria consortium, for the production of biogas, biofertilizers, and reclaimed water. An integrated approach using this hybrid platform will enable the valorization of various organic effluents and lipid-rich wastewater without the need for chemical additives during treatment. Within a biorefinery framework, the liquid effluent from the organic solid waste treatment will serve as a substrate for the growth of lipolytic fungi, which will subsequently be employed in the fungi-bacteria consortium for the treatment of lipid-rich wastewater and bioenergy production. In this regard, the hybrid platforms are expected to be highly effective in organic matter removal and conversion into clean energy, contributing to a feasible energy transition. Furthermore, this project proposes the establishment of a pioneering research group at the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture - University of São Paulo (ESALQ-USP), dedicated to the development of sustainable biorefinery processes for waste valorization, thereby complementing and expanding the institution's existing research areas. (AU)