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

第17届国际水协会世界厌氧消化大会（AD 17）将汇集500名研究人员、水务人员和从业人员，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日在密歇根大学安阿伯举行。厌氧消化已经成为一种多功能的工艺/技术，用于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，通过将农业和食品废物转化为高价值的化学品，有助于化学工业的脱碳，这些化学品可以作为工业相关产品制造的基础。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创业精神的小组讨论和一个关于环境宣传的全体会议。会议期间将通过口头和海报介绍以及若干网络活动促进信息交流。这个NSF奖项将使会议组织者能够支付200名学生参加AD 17会议活动的费用。AD 17会议将通过为与会者提供许多交流思想和建立新伙伴关系的机会来促进下一个发展和实施，从而造福社会。AD 17会议将围绕11个讨论主题和会议进行组织，这些主题涵盖从厌氧生物技术的微生物生态学到厌氧生物技术的作用，消化可以在促进气候适应能力和循环经济方面发挥作用。AD 17会议的总体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和环境生物技术对脱碳的贡献”，“通过厌氧生物技术推进生物经济”和“通过微生物学研究促进厌氧生物技术”。会议还将举办由研究领导者和从业人员组织的七个研讨会，包括主流厌氧处理研讨会，厌氧过程建模以及水，卫生和个人卫生（WaSH）。开幕全体会议和主旨会议将广泛宣传并向公众开放。咨询工程师和行业专业人士的参与将通过将他们的工作融入该计划并提供旨在弥合基础研究，知识翻译和工业应用之间差距的参展商展位来促进。通过分享想法和最佳实践以及建立新的伙伴关系，本次会议将有助于厌氧生物技术的实际发展和实施。 作为该奖项的关键成果，主要研究者将利用AD 17会议讨论来领导一篇观点文章的撰写，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NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

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.