Chelnyvodokanal recognised that the company faced very specific challenges in energy conservation and production, which could be solved with the assistance of the scientific-technical council.

The company hosted a meeting in Naberezhnye Chelny, bringing the council together for the first time. It expects that the event will mark a turning point in the integration of the company’s research and development into improved water processing.

The Cabinet of Russian Federation Ministers decree № 218 on the 9th April 2010 said

“On measures of state support for the development of cooperation between Russian higher education institutions and organizations implementing complex projects on high-tech production” whereby universities and industry developing projects together can receive significant support from the Russian state, in the form of subsidies.

The goal of improving the processing quality of raw sewage and increasing methane gas production was made public by the council. The driver behind this is to reduce the cost of purchasing natural gas. The council will focus on the efficient, automated use of methane production via the regional sewage treatment plants.

Gazprom, a Russian ‘champion’ and one of the largest companies in the world (Gazprom accounted for 8% of Russia’s 2011 GDP) has the export monopoly on Russian gas exports and currently sells gas within Russia considerably less that world prices.

Turning raw sewage into an energy source is as old as the hills. Our ancestors used animal waste to keep warm, as a crop fertiliser and to cook food.  It is common knowledge that people burn animal waste for cooking and heat. It is less well known that human waste may do just as well, or even better.