Qteros Making Ethanol from Sewage

Wade Roush10/6/09

It’s petrol from poop: Marlborough, MA-based Qteros today unveiled a joint development agreement with Israeli commodities recycler Applied CleanTech under which the two companies are using Qteros’ modified microorganisms to turn Applied CleanTech’s “Recyllose” feedstock, which is made from the solid matter in municipal wastewater, into ethanol for vehicle fuel and other uses. The process “produces high-quality alternative energy sources for the production of electricity or ethanol, while reducing sludge formation and lowering wastewater treatment plant costs and increasing plant capacity,” Qteros said in a statement.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/wroush.