MCI Josef Ressel Center Wins at the ENERGY GLOBE AWARDS

Sustainable research at the Entrepreneurial School®: Smart wastewater treatment using powdered activated carbon ranks among the top three of over 300 entries | Winner of the Public Vote Award

MCI | The Entrepreneurial School^® is celebrating another international research success. At the prestigious "Energy Globe Austria Award" ceremony, the Josef Ressel Center’s project, "Smart Wastewater Treatment with Powdered Activated Carbon," emerged as a standout.

Conducted in partnership with SYNCRAFT, Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe, Stadtwerke Schwaz, and Gemeindewerke Telfs, the project was one of the top three in the "Water" category out of more than 300 submissions. It also took home the coveted Public Vote Award. During the ceremony, broadcast worldwide from ORF Landesstudio Linz, Jan Back, Senior Researcher & Lecturer at MCI, and Benedikt Bodner, COO & Authorized Signatory at SYNCRAFT, accepted the award on behalf of the entire research team.

Angela Hofmann, MCI Professor and Head of the Josef Ressel Center for the Production of Powdered Activated Carbon, is excited about the recognition: “This award is a tremendous honor for our Josef Ressel Center. It not only highlights the exceptional work our team is doing, but also underscores the strong network of supporters who believe in our vision.”

Benedikt Bodner, Benedikt Bodner, SYNCRAFT’s COO, says, “When collaboration is this good, the results often surpass expectations. We’re proud to have worked with the Josef Ressel Center to make a sustainable, award-winning impact on wastewater treatment. Winning the Public Award at the 2024 Energy Globe Austria Awards is the cherry on top.”

Andreas Altmann, MCI Rector, adds: “Research, development, knowledge transfer, and entrepreneurship are at the core of our mission at the Entrepreneurial School^®. Our spin-off, SYNCRAFT, is building innovative 'reverse power plants' across Europe, and our Josef Ressel Center is using the by-product, powdered activated carbon, to create highly efficient solutions for the complex challenges of wastewater treatment.”

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

The "Josef Ressel Center for the Production of Powdered Activated Carbon from Municipal Residues" was established at MCI in the fall of 2020 for a five-year term within the Department of Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering. The center collaborates with regional industry partners to explore the use of powdered activated carbon in wastewater treatment.

The raw material for the powdered activated carbon comes from SYNCRAFT GmbH’s reverse power plants in Tyrol, which generate bioenergy from forest residue wood in the form of electricity and heat. This process produces biochar or wood charcoal, which is then used as the base for producing powdered activated carbon. This high-quality activated carbon is reintroduced into the municipal wastewater system to remove trace contaminants such as pharmaceutical residues. The involvement of future users from local utility companies has been key to the project's success.

The Josef Ressel Center is supported by the Christian Doppler Research Association and corporate partners SYNCRAFT GmbH, Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe AG, Stadtwerke Schwaz, and Gemeindewerke Telfs.

About the Energy Globe Award

Since 1999, the Energy Globe Award has been recognizing outstanding projects focused on resource conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. It is now one of the world’s most renowned environmental prizes. Regional winners are honored in Austria’s federal states and nationally across five categories: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Youth, and a special category. These winners go on to compete at the international level, where they are celebrated during a globally broadcast TV gala. Each year, over 180 countries submit innovative, sustainable projects for consideration.