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Wase zaps microbes to squeeze more biogas from wastewater sludge


Harvesting methane from organic waste and using it to produce electricity or heat is nothing new, but the startup isn't building another anaerobic digester.

Inside one of Wase’s systems, stacks of electrically charged fins called electrodes provide a home for the electro-active bacteria to grow. Compared with the anaerobic digesters normally used to do the job, Wase’s system can work at lower temperatures and a wider range of acidic (or basic) conditions, Fudge said. Providing it to the natural gas grid would make the climate benefit a little murkier, as methane leaks along the way have become a significant source of greenhouse gases, research shows.

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