Overview of Material and Energy Flows in German Wastewater Infrastructures

Today, Germany is moving to more sustainable energy systems. This challenges also the wastewater sector to improve energy balances of infrastructures. Besides energy efficiency, also reuse of resources from wastewater offers large energy potentials. While Germany represents a best practice example for wastewater management within the technical paradigm, there are large opportunities for energetic reuse of wastewater resources, which are not yet fully exploited. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of material and energy flows in wastewater infrastructures in Germany today, and to present two eco-innovations for improved energy balances. Making full use of synergies between energy and (waste)water infrastructures is an important feature of sustainable cities of tomorrow.