Can direct conversion of used nitrogen to new feed and protein help feed the world?

Environmental Science and Technology

Volumn 49, Issue 9, 2015, Pages 5247-5254

  Matassa, Silvio ^a,b   Batstone, Damien J ^d,e   Hülsen, Tim ^d,e   Schnoor, Jerald ^f   Verstraete, Willy ^a,b,c  

^a GHENT UNIVERSITY   (Belgium)

^b Avecom NV ^*  (Belgium)

^c KWR WATERCYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (Netherlands)

^d UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^e CRC for Water Sensitive Cities   (Australia)

^f IA United States   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CARBON DIOXIDE; CLIMATE CHANGE; CULTIVATION; GAS PLANTS; PROTEINS; SEWAGE; SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS; WASTE TREATMENT;

CROP PRODUCTION; DINITROGEN GAS; DIRECT CONVERSION; MICROBIAL PROTEINS; REACTIVE NITROGEN; TREATMENT PLANTS; WASTE TREATMENT PLANT; WORLD POPULATION;

NITROGEN;

NITROGEN; PROTEIN; PROTEIN INTAKE;

AMMONIA; CARBON DIOXIDE; CLIMATE CHANGE; CROP PRODUCTION; NITROGEN; POPULATION DYNAMICS; PROTEIN; SEWAGE; VULNERABILITY; WASTE TREATMENT;

ACTIVATED SLUDGE; ANIMAL FOOD; ARTICLE; CATERING SERVICE; CLIMATE CHANGE; CROP PRODUCTION; DOMESTIC WASTE; ENERGY CONVERSION; FEEDING; FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY; FOOD CHAIN; FOOD INDUSTRY; FOOD PROCESSING; HUMAN; INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION; NITROGEN CYCLE; NONHUMAN; POPULATION; PROTEIN INTAKE; SEWAGE TREATMENT; URBANIZATION; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT; AGRICULTURE; ANALYSIS; CHEMISTRY; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; METABOLISM; PROCEDURES; RECYCLING;

ANIMALIA;

AGRICULTURE; ANIMAL FEED; CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; DIETARY PROTEINS; NITROGEN; NITROGEN CYCLE; RECYCLING;

EID: 84928922822     PISSN: 0013936X     EISSN: 15205851     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1021/es505432w     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. Rockström, J.; Steffen, W.; Noone, K.; Persson, Å.; Chapin, F. S.; Lambin, E. F.; Lenton, T. M.; Scheffer, M.; Folke, C.; Schellnhuber, H. J. A safe operating space for humanity Nature 2009, 461, 472-475
2. Smil, V. Detonator of the population explosion Nature 1999, 400, 415
3. Erisman, J. W.; Sutton, M. A.; Galloway, J.; Klimont, Z.; Winiwarter, W. How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world Nat. Geosci. 2008, 1, 636-639 10.1038/ngeo325
4. Ezeh, A. C.; Bongaarts, J.; Mberu, B. Global population trends and policy options Lancet 2012, 380, 142-148 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60696-5
5. Gruber, N.; Galloway, J. N. An Earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen cycle Nature 2008, 451, 293-296 10.1038/nature06592
6. Sutton, M. A.; Bleeker, A. The shape of nitrogen to come Nature 2013, 494, 435-437 10.1038/nature11954
7. McAllister, C. H.; Beatty, P. H.; Good, A. G. Engineering nitrogen use efficient crop plants: The current status Plant Biotechnol. J. 2012, 10, 1011-1025 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2012.00700.x
8. Cordell, D.; Drangert, J.-O.; White, S. The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought Global Environ. Change 2009, 19, 292-305 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.10.009
9. Aiking, H. Future protein supply Trends Food Sci. Technol. 2011, 22, 112-120 10.1016/j.tifs.2010.04.005
10. Foley, J. a; Ramankutty, N.; Brauman, K. a; Cassidy, E. S.; Gerber, J. S.; Johnston, M.; Mueller, N. D.; O'Connell, C.; Ray, D. K.; West, P. C. Solutions for a cultivated planet Nature 2011, 478, 337-342 10.1038/nature10452
11. Foley, J. Boundaries for a Healthy Planet Sci. Am. 2010, 302, 54-57 10.1038/scientificamerican0410-54
12. Hargreaves, J. S. J. Nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts and as potential nitrogen transfer reagents Appl. Petrochemical Res. 2014, 4, 3-10 10.1007/s13203-014-0049-y
13. Calculation of Carbon Footprint of Fertilizer Production. http://www.yara.com/doc/122597-2013-Carbon-footprint-of-AN-Method-of-calculation.pdf.
14. Canfield, D. E.; Glazer, A. N.; Falkowski, P. G. The evolution and future of Earth's nitrogen cycle Science 2010, 330, 192-196 10.1126/science.1186120
15. Ravishankara, A. R.; Daniel, J. S.; Portmann, R. W. Nitrous oxide (N2O): The dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century Science 2009, 326, 123-125 10.1126/science.1176985
16. Mosier, A. R.; Duxbury, J. M.; Freney, J. R.; Heinemeyer, O.; Minami, K. Assessing and mitigating N2O emissions from agricultural soils Clim. Change 1998, 40, 7-38
17. Galloway, J. N.; Dentener, F. J.; Capone, D. G.; Boyer, E. W.; Howarth, R. W.; Seitzinger, S. P.; Asner, G. P.; Cleveland, C. C.; Green, P. A.; Holland, E. A. Nitrogen cycles: Past, present, and future Biogeochemistry 2004, 70, 153-226
18. Bodirsky, B. L.; Popp, a.; Weindl, I.; Dietrich, J. P.; Rolinski, S.; Scheiffele, L.; Schmitz, C. Lotze-Campen, H. N2O emissions from the global agricultural nitrogen cycle-Current state and future scenarios Biogeosciences 2012, 9, 4169-4197 10.5194/bg-9-4169-2012
19. Bodirsky, B. L.; Popp, A.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Dietrich, J. P.; Rolinski, S.; Weindl, I.; Schmitz, C.; Müller, C.; Bonsch, M.; Humpenöder, F. Reactive nitrogen requirements to feed the world in 2050 and potential to mitigate nitrogen pollution Nat. Commun. 2014, 5, 1-7 10.1038/ncomms4858
20. Barnard, R.; Leadley, P. W.; Hungate, B. a. Global change, nitrification, and denitrification: A review Global Biogeochem. Cycles 2005, 19, 1-13 10.1029/2004GB002282
21. Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Geneva, 2014; http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/report/final-drafts/.
22. Alexandratos, N.; Bruinsma, J. World Agriculture Towards 2030/2050: The 2012 Revision; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, 2012; http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap106e/ap106e.pdf.
23. Mulder, A. The quest for sustainable nitrogen removal technologies Water Sci. Technol. 2003, 48, 67-75
24. Paredes, D.; Kuschk, P.; Mbwette, T. S. A.; Stange, F.; Müller, R. A.; Köser, H. New aspects of microbial nitrogen transformations in the context of wastewater treatment-A review Eng. Life Sci. 2007, 7, 13-25 10.1002/elsc.200620170
25. Kampschreur, M. J.; Temmink, H.; Kleerebezem, R.; Jetten, M. S. M.; van Loosdrecht, M. C. M. Nitrous oxide emission during wastewater treatment Water Res. 2009, 43, 4093-4103 10.1016/j.watres.2009.03.001
26. Maurer, M.; Schwegler, P.; Larsen, T. a. Nutrients in urine: Energetic aspects of removal and recovery Water Sci. Technol. 2003, 48, 37-46
27. Wett, B.; Omari, A.; Podmirseg, S..; Han, M.; Akintayo, O.; Gómez Brandón, M.; Murthy, S.; Bott, C.; Hell, M.; Takács, I. Going for mainstream deammonification from bench to full scale for maximized resource efficiency Water Sci. Technol. 2013, 68, 283-289
28. Mehta, C. M.; Batstone, D. J. Nucleation and growth kinetics of struvite crystallization Water Res. 2013, 47, 2890-2900 10.1016/j.watres.2013.03.007
29. Lahav, O.; Schwartz, Y.; Nativ, P.; Gendel, Y. Sustainable removal of ammonia from anaerobic-lagoon swine waste effluents using an electrochemically-regenerated ion exchange process Chem. Eng. J. 2013, 218, 214-222 10.1016/j.cej.2012.12.043
30. Ippersiel, D.; Mondor, M.; Lamarche, F.; Tremblay, F.; Dubreuil, J.; Masse, L. Nitrogen potential recovery and concentration of ammonia from swine manure using electrodialysis coupled with air stripping. J. Environ. Manage. 2012, 95 Suppl, S165-S169; DOI 10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.05.026.
31. Van Eekert, M.; Weijma, J.; Verdoes, N.; De Buisonjé, F.; Reitsma, B.; Van den Bulk, J.; Van Gastel, J. Explorative Research on Innovative Nitrogen Recovery; STOWA: Amersfoort, 2012; http://www.stowa.nl/Upload/publicaties/STOWA%202012%2051-LR.pdf.
32. Kuntke, P.; Smiech, K. M.; Bruning, H.; Zeeman, G.; Saakes, M.; Sleutels, T. H. J. A.; Hamelers, H. V. M; Buisman, C. J. N. Ammonium recovery and energy production from urine by a microbial fuel cell Water Res. 2012, 46, 2627-2636 10.1016/j.watres.2012.02.025
33. Kuntke, P.; Sleutels, T. H. J. A.; Saakes, M.; Buisman, C. J. N. Hydrogen production and ammonium recovery from urine by a microbial electrolysis cell Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2014, 39, 4771-4778 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.10.089
34. Logan, B. E. Scaling up microbial fuel cells and other bioelectrochemical systems Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2010, 85, 1665-1671 10.1007/s00253-009-2378-9
35. Desloover, J.; Woldeyohannis, A. A.; Verstraete, W.; Boon, N.; Rabaey, K. Electrochemical resource recovery from digestate to prevent ammonia toxicity during anaerobic digestion Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 12209-12216 10.1021/es3028154
36. Fertecon: Ammonia Market Report; https://store.agra-net.com/fertecon/fert-ammnrep.html.
37. Bouwman, A. F.; Beusen, A. H. W.; Billen, G. Human alteration of the global nitrogen and phosphorus soil balances for the period 1970-2050 Global Biogeochem. Cycles 2009, 23, 1-16 10.1029/2009GB003576
38. Meneses, M.; Pasqualino, J. C.; Castells, F. Environmental assessment of urban wastewater reuse: Treatment alternatives and applications Chemosphere 2010, 81, 266-272 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.05.053
39. Levanon, D.; Danai, O.; Masaphy, S. Chemical and physical parameters in recycling organic wastes for mushroom production Biol. Wastes 1988, 26, 341-348
40. De Schryver, P.; Verstraete, W. Nitrogen removal from aquaculture pond water by heterotrophic nitrogen assimilation in lab-scale sequencing batch reactors Bioresour. Technol. 2009, 100, 1162-1167 10.1016/j.biortech.2008.08.043
41. Ebeling, J. M.; Timmons, M. B.; Bisogni, J. J. Engineering analysis of the stoichiometry of photoautotrophic, autotrophic, and heterotrophic removal of ammonia-nitrogen in aquaculture systems Aquaculture 2006, 257, 346-358 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2006.03.019
42. Martins, C. I. M.; Eding, E. H.; Verdegem, M. C. J.; Heinsbroek, L. T. N.; Schneider, O.; Blancheton, J. P.; Roque D'Orbcastel, E.; Verreth, J. A. J. New developments in recirculating aquaculture systems in Europe: A perspective on environmental sustainability Aquacultural Eng. 2010, 43, 83-93 10.1016/j.aquaeng.2010.09.002
43. Hülsen, T.; Batstone, D. J.; Keller, J. Phototrophic bacteria for nutrient recovery from domestic wastewater Water Res. 2014, 50, 18-26 10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.051
44. Tuantet, K.; Temmink, H.; Zeeman, G.; Janssen, M.; Wijffels, R. H.; Buisman, C. J. N. Nutrient removal and microalgal biomass production on urine in a short light-path photobioreactor Water Res. 2014, 55, 162-174 10.1016/j.watres.2014.02.027
45. Anupama; Ravindra, P. Value-added food: Single cell protein Biotechnol. Adv. 2000, 18, 459-479
46. Batstone, D. J.; Virdis, B. The role of anaerobic digestion in the emerging energy economy Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 2014, 27, 142-149 10.1016/j.copbio.2014.01.013
47. De Schryver, P.; Verstraete, W. Nitrogen removal from aquaculture pond water by heterotrophic nitrogen assimilation in lab-scale sequencing batch reactors Bioresour. Technol. 2009, 100, 1162-1167 10.1016/j.biortech.2008.08.043
48. Nangul, A.; Bhatia, R. Microorganisms: A marvelous source of single cell protein J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. Food Sci. 2013, 3, 15-18
49. Nasseri, A. T.; Rasoul-Amini, S.; Morowvat, M. H.; Ghasemi, Y. Single cell protein: Production and process Am. J. Food Technol. 2011, 6, 103-116
50. Marit Berge, G.; Baeverfjord, G.; Skrede, A.; Storebakken, T. Bacterial protein grown on natural gas as protein source in diets for Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in saltwater Aquaculture 2005, 244, 233-240 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2004.11.017
51. Logan, A. J.; Sprague Terry, S.; Swenson, R. Biosolids-based food additive for animal feed, methods of production, and business application thereof. US Patent: US 2009/0114602 A1, 2009.
52. Matassa, S.; Boon, N.; Verstraete, W. Resource recovery from used water: The manufacturing abilities of hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria Water Res. 2015, 68, 467-478 10.1016/j.watres.2014.10.028
53. Hall, D. O.; Rao, K. Photosynthesis; Cambridge University Press: London, U.K., 1999.
54. Becker, E. W. Micro-algae as a source of protein Biotechnol. Adv. 2007, 25, 207-210 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2006.11.002
55. Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States; United States National Research Council; The National Academies Press: Washington, D.C, 2012.
56. Ponsano, E.; Pinto, M.; Garcia-Neto, M.; Lacava, P. Performance and color of broilers fed diets containing rhodocyclus gelatinosus biomass Braz. J. Poult. Sci. 2004, 6, 237-242
57. Gélinas, P.; Barrette, J. Protein enrichment of potato processing waste through yeast fermentation Bioresour. Technol. 2007, 98, 1138-1143 10.1016/j.biortech.2006.04.021
58. Stabnikova, O. Biotransformation of vegetable and fruit processing wastes into yeast biomass enriched with selenium Bioresour. Technol. 2005, 96, 747-751 10.1016/j.biortech.2004.06.022
59. Pimentel, D.; Pimentel, M. Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2003, 78, 660-663
60. Heijnen, J. J.; van Loosdrecht, M. C. M.; Tijhuis, L. A black box mathematical model to calculate auto- and heterotrophic biomass yields based on Gibbs energy dissipation Biotechnol. Bioeng. 1992, 40, 1139-1154 10.1002/bit.260401003
61. Heijnen, J. J.; Van Dijken, J. P. In search of a thermodynamic description of biomass yields for the chemotrophic growth of microorganisms Biotechnol. Bioeng. 1992, 39, 833-858 10.1002/bit.260390806
62. Heijnen, J. J. Bioenergetics of Microbial Growth. In Encyclopedia of Bioprocess Technology; Heijnen, J. J.; Kleerebezem, R., Eds.; John Wiley & Sons Inc.: Delft, 2002; pp 267-291.
63. Batstone, D. J.; Virdis, B. The role of anaerobic digestion in the emerging energy economy Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 2014, 27, 142-149 10.1016/j.copbio.2014.01.013
64. Agler, M. T.; Wrenn, B. a; Zinder, S. H.; Angenent, L. T. Waste to bioproduct conversion with undefined mixed cultures: The carboxylate platform Trends Biotechnol. 2011, 29, 70-78 10.1016/j.tibtech.2010.11.006
65. Farooq, M.; Wahid, A.; Kobayashi, N.; Fujita, D.; Basra, S. M. A. Plant drought stress: Effects, mechanisms and management. 2009, 29, 185-212
66. Dosta, J.; Galí, A.; Benabdallah El-Hadj, T.; Macé, S.; Mata-Alvarez, J. Operation and model description of a sequencing batch reactor treating reject water for biological nitrogen removal via nitrite Bioresour. Technol. 2007, 98, 2065-2075 10.1016/j.biortech.2006.04.033
67. Verstraete, W.; Vlaeminck, S. E. ZeroWasteWater: Short-cycling of wastewater resources for sustainable cities of the future Agron. Sustainable Dev. World Ecol. 2011, 18, 253-264 10.1080/13504509.2011.570804
68. McCarty, P. L.; Bae, J.; Kim, J. Domestic wastewater treatment as a net energy producer-Can this be achieved? Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 45, 7100-7106 10.1021/es2014264
69. Mo, W.; Zhang, Q. Can municipal wastewater treatment systems be carbon neutral? J. Environ. Manage 2012, 112, 360-367 10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.08.014
70. Mo, W.; Zhang, Q. Energy-nutrients-water nexus: Integrated resource recovery in municipal wastewater treatment plants J. Environ. Manage 2013, 127, 255-267 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.05.007
71. Verstraete, W.; Van de Caveye, P.; Diamantis, V. Maximum use of resources present in domestic "used water" Bioresour. Technol. 2009, 100, 5537-5545 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.05.047
72. Commercial demonstration of nutrient recovery of ammonium sulfate and phosphorus rich fines from AD effluent; http://www.manuremanagement.cornell.edu/Pages/General-Docs/Events/17.Craig.Frear.Steve.Dvorak.pdf.
73. Canton, J. The extreme future of megacities Significance 2011, 8, 53-56 10.1111/j.1740-9713.2011.00485.x
74. Singh, R. Coping with water- and wastewater-related risks in megacity Delhi. In Coping with Global Environmental Change, Disasters and Security SE-34; Brauch, H. G.; Oswald Spring, Ú.; Mesjasz, C.; Grin, J.; Kameri-Mbote, P.; Chourou, B.; Dunay, P.; Birkmann, J., Eds.; Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace; Springer: Berlin Heidelberg, 2011; Vol. 5, pp 613-623.
75. Rodríguez, J. P.; McIntyre, N.; Díaz-Granados, M.; Quijano, J. P.; Maksimović, Č. Monitoring and modelling to support wastewater system management in developing mega-cities Sci. Total Environ. 2013, 445-446, 79-93 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.12.022
76. Bernhardt, E. S.; Band, L. E.; Walsh, C. J.; Berke, P. E. Understanding, managing, and minimizing urban impacts on surface water nitrogen loading Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2008, 1134, 61-96 10.1196/annals.1439.014
77. Chang, P.-L.; Hsu, C.-W.; Hsiung, C.-M.; Lin, C.-Y. Constructing an innovative Bio-Hydrogen Integrated Renewable Energy System Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2013, 38, 15660-15669 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.03.112
78. Xu, J.; Zhou, W.; Li, Z.; Wang, J.; Ma, J. Biogas reforming for hydrogen production over nickel and cobalt bimetallic catalysts Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2009, 34, 6646-6654 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.06.038
79. Züttel, A.; Borgschulte, A.; Schlapbach, L., Eds. Hydrogen as a Future Energy Carrier; Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Weinheim, Germany, 2008.
80. Turner, J. A. A Realizable Renewable Energy Future Science 1999, 285, 687-689 10.1126/science.285.5428.687
81. Dabiri, J. O. Potential order-of-magnitude enhancement of wind farm power density via counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbine arrays J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 3 2011, 043104 10.1063/1.3608170
82. Ulber, R.; Sell, D.; Hirth, T., Eds.; Renewable Raw Materials: New Feedstocks for the Chemical Industry; Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Weinheim, Germany, 2011.