When Sewage Is Not a Dirty Word

Miller-Mccune.com
By: Melinda Burns April 3, 2010 15:00 PM (PDT)

Algae can purify wastewater and provide electricity.

Venture capitalists can chase the holy grail all they want, trying to convert algae into bio-diesel. The City of Santa Rosa, Calif., has hit on a more practical way to turn green slime into green power.

On May 10, the city’s Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant will inaugurate a small pilot project that relies on native algae and marsh plants to purify sewage and produce methane. The gas will run a generator that charges a fleet of four electric maintenance vehicles.

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