Sustainable technologies: a workshop by DICEA for the construction of a thermocompost that favours the production of energy

Conventional energy structures are no longer sustainable. Fossil fuels have covered most of the energy needs of recent decades, with all the environmental damage that comes with it: an excess of carbon in the atmosphere, in the form of CO2 and, on the other hand, a lack of carbon in the soils, which are at risk of desertification.

However, there is a solution: make a real transition towards new sustainable solutions and technologies that are less polluting and capable benefiting the environment.

This is the direction that the master’s degree programme in Environmental Engineering of the University of Padua is taking, in collaboration with several local authorities, they propose a workshop with the objective of creating a thermocompost, or a compost that, during the aerobic biodegradation phase of organic substances, releases energy in the form of heat. The energy obtained will then be used in the cultivation of microalgae in a specially prepared greenhouse. These single-celled photosynthetic organisms, by capturing CO2 from the air and energy from sunlight, produce biomass with a high commercial value, ranging from nutraceutical application to pigments for manufacturing and food, from feed to biofertilizers, thus offering an efficient circular economy model.

The workshop will be held on January 27th and 28th 2023 from 9.00 am at the laboratorio di Ingegneria Sanitaria Ambientale (LISA) of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (via Lungargine Rovetta 8, Padua).

The theoretical and practical activities will be led by Professor Alberto Pivato, Professor Maria Cristina Lavagnolo, Rachele Malesani, Alberto Schievano and Professor Eleonora Sforza. During the workshop there will also be

Those wishing to participate can send an email to the following address: alberto.pivato@unipd.it

For more information download the brochure.