17th International Water Association World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion: Biogas and Beyond: Expanding Applications of Anaerobic Biotechnologies in a Circular Economy

第17届国际水协会厌氧消化世界会议（AD17）将汇集500名研究人员，水务人员和实践者，分享来自世界各地的前沿研究和最佳实践。会议将于2022年6月17日至22日在密歇根大学安娜堡分校举行。厌氧消化已经成为一种通用的过程/技术，可以将许多废物流转化为有用的副产品，包括富含营养的土壤改良剂和富含能量的沼气，这些沼气可以升级为可再生天然气。厌氧消化也有很大的潜力，通过将农业和食物废物转化为高价值化学品，从而促进化学工业的脱碳，这些化学品可以作为制造工业相关产品的基本材料。本次会议将重点介绍厌氧生物技术领域的最新进展，重点关注有用产品的生产和资源回收，以促进气候适应能力和循环经济。会议还将包括一个关于企业家精神的小组讨论和一个关于环境倡导的全体会议。会议期间的信息交流将通过口头和海报介绍以及若干网络活动来促进。这项NSF奖励将使会议组织者能够支付200名学生参加AD17会议活动的费用。AD17会议将为与会者提供许多交流思想和建立新伙伴关系的机会，以促进下一代厌氧生物技术的开发和实施，以适应气候变化和资源恢复，从而造福社会。AD17会议将围绕11个讨论主题和会议组织，涵盖从厌氧生物技术的微生物生态学到厌氧消化在促进气候适应能力和循环经济中的作用等主题。AD17会议的首要目标是为这些不同主题的知识共享创建一个平台。会议将有三个主题演讲和会议：“甲烷排放在全球变暖中的作用以及环境生物技术对脱碳的贡献”，“用厌氧生物技术推进生物经济”和“通过微生物研究激励厌氧生物技术”。会议还将举办由研究领导者和实践者组织的七个研讨会，包括主流厌氧处理，厌氧过程建模和水，环境卫生和个人卫生（WaSH）研讨会。开幕全体会议和主题会议将广泛宣传并向公众开放。通过将咨询工程师和行业专业人士的工作整合到项目中，并提供旨在弥合基础研究、知识转化和工业应用之间差距的参展商展位，将促进他们的参与。通过分享想法和最佳实践以及建立新的伙伴关系，本次会议将为厌氧生物技术在现实世界的进步和实施做出贡献。作为NSF奖项的关键交付成果，首席研究员将利用AD17会议的讨论来引导撰写一篇远景文章，以突出会议成果和厌氧生物技术领域在生物经济中的重要作用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The 17th International Water Association World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion (AD17) will bring together a total of 500 researchers, water utility personnel, and practitioners to share cutting-edge research and best practices from around the world. The conference will be held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on June 17-22, 2022. Anaerobic digestion has emerged as a versatile process/technology for converting many waste streams to useful byproducts including nutrient-rich soil amendments and energy-rich biogas that can be upgraded to renewable natural gas. Anaerobic digestion has also great potential to contribute to the decarbonization of the chemical industry via the conversion of agricultural and food wastes to high-value chemicals which can serve as building blocks for the manufacturing of industrially relevant products. This conference will highlight recent advances in the field of anaerobic biotechnology with a focus on the production of useful products and resource recovery to advance climate resilience and a circular economy. The conference will also include a panel discussion on entrepreneurship and a plenary talk on environmental advocacy. Information sharing during the conference will be facilitated through oral and poster presentations as well as several networking events. This NSF award will enable the conference organizers to cover the costs of 200 student participants to attend the AD17 conference events. The AD17 conference will benefit society by providing many opportunities for the participants to exchange ideas and build new partnerships to advance the development and implementation of next-generation anaerobic biotechnologies for climate resilience and resource recovery.The AD17 conference will be organized around 11 discussion topics and sessions that span subjects ranging from the microbial ecology of anaerobic biotechnologies to the role that anaerobic digestion can play in advancing climate resilience and the circular economy. An overarching goal of the AD17 conference is to create a platform for knowledge sharing on these diverse topics. The conference will feature three keynote presentations and sessions: “Role of Methane Emissions in Global Warming and Contributions of Environmental Biotechnology to Decarbonization,” “Advancing the Bioeconomy with Anaerobic Biotechnologies,” and “Inspiring Anaerobic Biotechnologies through Microbiology Research”. The conference will also feature seven workshops organized by research leaders and practitioners including workshops on mainstream anaerobic treatment, modeling of anaerobic processes, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH). The opening plenary and keynote sessions will be broadly advertised and open to the public. Participation by consulting engineers and industry professionals will be promoted by integrating their work in the program and by providing exhibitor booths aimed at bridging the gap between fundamental research, knowledge translation, and industrial applications. Through the sharing of ideas and best practices and the creation of new partnerships, this conference will contribute to the real-world advancement and implementation of anaerobic biotechnologies. As a key deliverable for this NSF award, the Principal Investigators will leverage the AD17 session discussions to lead the crafting of a perspective article to highlight the conference outcomes and the important role of the anaerobic biotechnology field in the bioeconomy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.