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Last Updated on: 15th May 2025, 01:14 pm
At the latest year’s Energy Globe Austria Awards, held at the ORF Landesstudio Linz, the team from SYNCRAFT and the Josef Ressel Center at MCI Innsbruck took home the prestigious Audience Award in the Water category. Their groundbreaking project, “Smart Wastewater Treatment Using Powdered Activated Carbon,” was selected from nearly 300 submissions, highlighting growing public interest in scalable solutions for activated carbon usage.
The award-winning project addresses a growing global concern: the contamination of water resources with drug residues, pesticides, and microplastics. These pollutants, which are resistant to conventional biological degradation, often escape traditional wastewater treatment and accumulate in watercourses and groundwater, threatening aquatic ecosystems and potentially human health.
To combat this, researchers at the Josef Ressel Center have pioneered the use of powdered activated carbon (PAC) derived from biochar — or Green Carbon — as a highly effective filter for organic pollutants. This PAC is produced from the reverse power generation process of SYNCRAFT’s innovative biomass power plants, creating a closed-loop, sustainable system that marries clean energy production with environmental remediation.
“This award is a great tribute to our Josef Ressel Center,” said Angela Hofmann, MCI Professor and Head of the research initiative. “It not only gives media visibility to the outstanding work of our team but also reflects the strength of our support network.”
Benedikt Bodner, SYNCRAFT’s COO, echoed the sentiment: “The result of an excellent collaboration often exceeds expectations. We’re proud to contribute to a sustainable, award-winning wastewater treatment solution.”
Jan Back of MCI Innsbruck and Benedikt Bodner were on hand to accept the award, which underscores Austria’s continued leadership in applied environmental innovation. With water pollution on the rise worldwide, this project could become a model for integrating carbon-negative technologies into next-generation water treatment systems.
As Energy Globe Austria celebrates over 25 years of environmental leadership, the recognition of this collaboration between MCI Innsbruck and SYNCRAFT serves as a testament to what’s possible when academia and industry unite to solve complex ecological challenges.
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