Willow Tree Roots Acts as Bio-Refinery To Treat Wastewater

Date:July 1, 2021

Country: Canada

Application

• The applications of this project include wastewater treatment and purification can generate complementary bioproducts, such as renewable bioenergy and green chemistry.

Description

Researchers have found a way to filter the waste through the roots of willow trees. Experimenting with a plantation in Quebec, the scientists estimate that over 30 million litres of primary wastewater per hectare can be treated using 'bio-refinery' annually.Willow trees are naturally tolerant of contamination and their roots filter out the high nitrogen in sewage, actually tripling the biomass produced, which can then be harvested for renewable lignocellulosic biofuels, an alternative to fossil fuels.

Pathway Description:

Phytoremediation is the process involved in this project for treating and purifying wastewater by utilizing willow trees to absorb and break down pollutants