An example of university and industry cooperation for anaerobic digestion optimization

The consortium ALPI BIOGAS was founded in September 2007, within the framework of the area program of the European Union called “Applied Spatial Management ASM”. The consortium is administrated by the Department of Innovation, Research and Development of the Autonomous Province of Bozen, Italy. The consortium has the objective to join scientific, managing and technical experience and expertise on local scale with the purpose of creating a group able to solve the open questions related to the diffusion of the biogas-technology in Trentino-Alto Adige and over the whole national territory. An extension of the research group is planned through the affiliation of other industrial partners. This integrated group allowed directly or indirectly the activation of a series of researches, also financed by the Autonomous Province of Trento. This paper presents the main characteristics, the work in progress and the expected results of three financed research projects (with an overall budget of higher than 1 Mio. Euro). The University of Trento participates with the entire group of sanitary engineering. Many aspects of the anaerobic digestion are involved in the three financed research projects: they concern pre-treatment, process optimization and post-treatment.