Don’t miss these important things!
Further to our recent item on this topic, Dr Maira Anam has kindly made a recorded version of her talk on Impact of fluid flow on microbial community development in pilot-scale MEC, presented at the EBIC EBES Conference 2026. The talk is now available here on EBNet’s YouTube Channel. She also …
Digestates from anaerobic digestion of organic wastes and wastewater treatment residues are a hot topic at present, for several reasons. On the one hand they represent a largely unrealised resource in terms of nutrients and other potential products: on the other, there are growing concerns about the impact of emerging …
Date: 29 Oct 2026 14:00 UK, online Don’t miss this webinar exploring current advances and emerging trends in polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production. Dr Seongbong Heo will discuss research spanning mixed microbial cultures, waste-derived feedstocks, nutrient-decoupled and integrated production strategies, and data-driven approaches to PHA accumulation. The session will provide an accessible …
A colleague using AI for thematic analysis of some contributions by EBNet WG Leads noticed an interesting sub-heading: ‘Designed biology versus managed natural communities’. The distinction being made was apparently between microbially-mediated treatment systems based on synthetic biology, and those not involving genetically manipulated organisms or components. This is rather …
Date: 16 Oct 2026, 16:00 UK Don’t miss this much-anticipated webinar on Environmental Biotechnology: How to Partner with Microbial Communities; a topic at the heart of EBNet’s Theme 2, and central to many of the processes and systems that we work on. The speaker is the internationally-renowned Prof Bruce Rittmann …
Last week saw the first Better Water 4 All Network+ ECR Conference hosted by the University of Surrey. The event was attended by lots of EBNet members, as the two Networks have many topics in common: EBNet’s emphasis is on biotech and its remit also covers solid waste and contaminated …
Dr Sharon Velasquez-Orta, our Bioelectrochemical Systems WG Lead, sent this update from the EU ISMET 2026 conference – with an update on the Group’s next activities at the IWA World Water Congress, Glasgow EU ISMET 2026 – join me in this conference overview, as if you were there! The last …
We quite often highlight publications by EBNet members that are relevant to our themes. But this is the big one, as far as our remit to look at engineered microbial systems is concerned. A newly-published paper puts forward equations that govern some simple but vitally important processes in microbial ecology. …
For a light-hearted item while many EBNet members are on holiday, we bring you a quick update on sightings of Green Stories: Microbes to the Rescue! Copies are known to have made their way to Dublin and Cork in Ireland, and to Malta and Canada. But the undisputed hands-down winner …
Congratulations to Dr Maria Ramos Suarez and co-Authors on the publication of a new paper on the implications of producing bio-based commodity chemicals from waste feedstocks for the selection and testing of bioreactor materials. The paper identifies the top 10 commodity chemicals that can be derived from waste-related feedstocks in …
Followers of EBNet’s AD WG, and others interested in anaerobic digestion, can now read a short report containing reflections on the recent World Biogas Summit 2026 hosted by ADBA and the World Biogas Association (WBA). The report was kindly prepared by Dr Angela Bywater, EBNet’s former Network co-Manager, who attended …
Congratulations to Dr Meredith Barr, who leads EBNet’s Biochar WG, on her Keynote Lecture at WasteEng2026 on Scoping the Potential of Integrating Thermal, Thermochemical, and Biological Conversion Technologies. The presentation covered the outcomes of the joint BBNet/EBNet workshop she ran last year on Integration of thermal and bio-conversion technologies. A Summary …
A very special set of congratulations from EBNet to Dr Angela Bywater, on her graduation this week with the award of PhD for a thesis on On-farm anaerobic digestion viability: policy perspectives and operational opportunities. Much of the work involved was carried out during her time – and in some …
An interesting item from Suzy Hill, an Engineering Innovation Project Manager at United Utilities, in CIWEM’s News pages. Talking to Jo Caird, the Editor of CIWEM’s Environment magazine, she briefly outlines how the Making Microbes Matter project is using metagenomics to analyse and track microbial communities with a view to improving …
Microenvironments can be defined as localised zones with chemical, biological or physical characteristics that differ significantly from those of the larger-scale surrounding environment. Because microbes respond primarily to these immediate conditions, microenvironments strongly influence the performance of microbially-based systems. Understanding and controlling these influences is essential for engineering improved systems. …
