First annual U.S.-Israel Energy Center Event to explore intersection of water and energy
Northwestern water expert to present on binational water systems research at meeting at 11:30 a.m. (E.S.T.) on April 6
A collaboration among water and energy experts at Northwestern University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) has been steadily building momentum since launching last August. Now the public can hear about this collaboration, along with other initiatives administered by the U.S.- Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, at the first-annual U.S.-Israel Energy Center Event.
The live webinar will take place at 6:30 p.m. Israel, 12:30 p.m. E.S.T. today (April 6). Along with the multi-institutional, international program led by Northwestern and BGU, speakers from the Energy Storage and Fossil Energy consortia will present findings from the program’s first year.
Participants can attend the webinar by following this link.
The Collaborative Water-Energy Research Center (CoWERC), led by Northwestern and BGU, includes partners from leading research institutions, water utilities and private companies, with the U.S. team including collaborators from Argonne National Laboratory, Yale University, DuPont Water Solutions and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Aaron Packman, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and director of Northwestern’s Center for Water Research, co-directs CoWERC with Moshe Herzberg, professor of environmental engineering at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) at BGU.
“CoWERC’s objective is to develop and test technologies that will strongly benefit both water and energy systems,” Packman said. “The next phase of pilot testing of new materials and technologies for water, like integrating new materials from U.S. teams into desalination technologies and water reuse systems in Israel.”
The CoWERC presentation will focus on ongoing initiatives on energy-efficient enhanced water supply through desalination and antifouling materials, wastewater reuse and resource recovery, and energy-water systems analysis.
“The synergistic collaboration between our partners has provided rapid progress across CoWERC activities,” Herzberg said. “For example, we’re able to develop multiple processes at the same time that are already being tested by partners. All the projects now are linked to an integrated approach to water, energy and nutrient recovery from wastewater that uses anaerobic membrane bioreactor technology.”