Energy Globe Austria Award 2024

The Energy Globe Austria Award 2024 was presented at the ORF Landesstudio Linz on September 18. Together with the Josef Ressel Center, we were nominated in the Water category and were chosen as the winner of the Audience Award. It is a great pleasure and honour for us to receive such a prestigious and globally recognized award!

The "Smart wastewater treatment using powdered activated carbon" project was nominated from almost 300 environmental projects submitted and ultimately won the public vote.

What exactly is it about? Water is essential for life and an irreplaceable resource for us. Fortunately, most of the waters in Austria are still very clean. However, pollution is on the rise. Our water is increasingly contaminated with drug residues, pesticides and microplastics, for example. As these substances are not easily biodegradable and cannot be eliminated in sewage treatment plants, they end up in watercourses and groundwater, where they harm living organisms.

The Josef Ressel Center at MCI Innsbruck is implementing a research project that is investigating the use of powdered activated carbon in wastewater treatment. The basic raw material for the production of this powdered activated carbon is biochar or Green Carbon, which is produced from the energy generation process from our SYNCRAFT reverse power plants. This method of wastewater treatment enables the flexible and sustainable removal of organic pollutants and could revolutionize the future of water treatment.

Angela Hofmann, MCI Professor and Head of the MCI Josef Ressel Center for the Production of Powdered Activated Carbon, is delighted with the prestigious award: "This award is a great tribute to our Josef Ressel Center - not only does it give media visibility to the great work of our team, it also demonstrates our large network of supporters of our idea."

Benedikt Bodner, plant manager and authorized signatory of SYNCRAFT, is also enthusiastic: "The result of an excellent collaboration often exceeds expectations. We are proud to be able to make a sustainable and award-winning contribution to wastewater treatment together with the Josef Ressel Center. And we are delighted that we were chosen as the public winner of the Energy Globe Austria Award 2024 with this project."

Jan Back from MCI Innsbruck and our operations manager Benedikt Bodner were proud to accept the award. A big thank you to Energy Globe Austria and to all those involved and supporters who have made this important award possible for over 25 years!

Find out more about the award & the project here:
https://www.energyglobe.at/austria/2024

More information about the Josef Ressel Center:
https://research.mci.edu/de/jrz-pak