Project Grant 83350501

This $275,000 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports the development, modeling, and validation of a novel technology to enhance the efficiency of anaerobic digestion for biogas generation from organic waste. The project, led by Elif Environmental LLC, aims to leverage microwaves and electromagnetic fields to improve anaerobic fermentation efficiency by at least 20% across a range of...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) provides $360,000 to the University of Tennessee to develop innovative microbial communities capable of converting organic waste into renewable biogas through a process known as electro-methanogenesis. The key objectives are to: Build robust electro-methanogenic microbial communities by continuously switching the direction of electricity, enabling both organic-consuming and biogas-producing microorganisms to...

This $1.5 million Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Office of International Science and Engineering (NSF OISE) will fund the development of a climate-resilient and sustainable food production system utilizing controlled environment hydroponic agriculture with novel wastewater treatment and reuse technologies. Led by Clemson University in collaboration with universities in South Korea, the award will support five key activities over a two-year period from January 2023 to December...

This three-year, $390,261 National Science Foundation project grant will fund research at The Washington University to advance the production of volatile fatty acids from organic wastes through anaerobic digestion. Specifically, the university will investigate using hydrogen peroxide generated via bioelectrochemical conversion to inhibit methanogenesis and maximize valuable chemical yields. Researchers will study inhibition mechanisms, evaluate membrane separation systems, and explore...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) provides $360,222 to Georgia Tech Research Corp to advance novel biological treatment strategies that leverage comammox and anammox bacteria for sustainable nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment. The research objectives include evaluating the synergy between these specialized bacteria, determining the impact of dissolved oxygen on nitrite provision for anammox bacteria, and conducting pilot-scale...

County Sanitation District No. 2 of Los Angeles County received a $7.523 million Project Grant award on September 1, 2025, under the Fossil Energy Research and Development program (CFDA 81.089), administered by the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The project, designated as FY24 Congressionally Directed Spending, will construct, install, operate, and maintain a biogas conditioning system (BCS) capable of upgrading up to 1,440 standard cubic feet per minute...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $650,000 Project Grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to the University of South Florida (USF) to develop innovative decentralized wastewater management technologies and strategies for U.S. Pacific islands. The project, titled "Towards Resilient, Equitable, Safe and Sustainable Water for Islands (RESSI-H2O)", assembles a multi-disciplinary team from USF, the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa,...

This $360,000 project grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to Temple University supports research to develop synthetic microbial communities capable of robust electro-methanogenesis. The goal is to improve the process of converting organic waste into renewable biogas by leveraging microorganisms that can use electricity as an energy source. The research aims to build resilient electro-methanogenic communities, quantify the drivers of...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (CFDA 47.041) awarded a $200,000 EAGER grant to Auburn University to develop and validate a novel multi-tray dry biofilm reactor that can directly capture methane (CH4) from the air. The goal is to convert the captured CH4, a potent greenhouse gas, into valuable single-cell proteins for animal feed. This research aims to advance understanding of biofilm-based conversion of atmospheric CH4 and provide a quantitative assessment of...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $650,000 Project Grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program to the Regents of the University of Michigan to develop a scalable plan for a circular approach to wastewater management through source separation. The project, titled "Advancing Equitable and Circular Water Solutions Through Source Separation," aims to create a system to capture valuable nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium...