The Global Water Research Coalition (GWRC) is thrilled to announce the launch of a global collaboration to tackle nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment plants—one of the most critical challenges in achieving net-zero emissions for the water industry. Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, accounts for over 80% of direct greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants, making their reduction essential for utilities to meet their climate targets. However, accurate quantification remains challenging due to inconsistencies in equipment setup and data collection, posing a significant barrier to effectively comparing and reducing these emissions.

This project brings together international partners and interdisciplinary experts to develop a globally recognised and implementable methodology for monitoring and quantifying nitrous oxide emissions. This will enable water utilities worldwide to adopt good practices for accurately measuring their nitrous oxide emissions and lay the groundwork for building a comparable global database. The data collected can then be used to provide more accurate representations of nitrous oxide emissions from the wastewater sector, helping the industry take actionable steps toward reducing emissions in the future.

This international collaboration is a vital step toward ensuring that best practices are adopted worldwide, unlocking significant benefits for the water industry.

Project Partners: The Global Water Research Coalition and in particular the members including The Water Research Foundation (US), KWR Water Cycle Research Institute (Netherlands), the Water Services Association of Australia (Australia), the Canadian Water Network (Canada), PUB (Singapore), SUEZ – CIRSEE (France), STOWA– Foundation for Applied Water Research (Netherlands), UK Water Industry Research (United Kingdom), VEOLIA (France), Water Research Australia (Australia) and the Water Research Commission (South Africa).

Editor Team: Prof. Liu Ye (The University of Queensland – Australia), Dr. Wenzel Gruber (Upwater – Switzerland), Dr. Haoran Duan (UNSW – Australia), Dr. Carlos Domingo-Felez (The University of Glasgow – UK).

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