污水处理新技术助力实现碳中和:路径、机制与展望OA

The synergistic transformation toward pollution and carbon reduction of the wastewater treatment sector,a key source of carbon emissions,is of strategic importance for achieving carbon neutrality.This paper systematically reviews emerging technologies that empower carbon neutrality in wastewater treatment,focusing on bioenhancement,resource recovery and energy self-sufficiency,novel functional materials,natural and hybrid systems,and digital synergistic coupling models,while clarifying the carbon-reduction mechanisms and application value of each technical pathway.The study found that bioenhancement reduces greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by revolutionizing microbial metabolic routes.Resource-recovery technologies convert organic pollutants into clean energy,driving treatment systems toward energy self-sufficiency while creating carbon-sink effects.Novel functional materials lower carbon-emission intensity by selectively capturing greenhouse gases and accelerating electron transfer.Natural and hybrid systems actively sequester carbon and regenerate energy through ecological cycling,and digital synergistic coupling transforms wastewater treatment plants from carbon emitters into carbon-asset producers via whole-process intelligent control.Currently,large-scale application of these emerging technologies is hindered by difficult microbial regulation,inadequate monitoring systems,lagging carbon-accounting standards,and an imbalance between economic cost and environmental benefit.Future efforts should coordinate technology R&D,policy mechanisms,and industrial ecosystems by strengthening functional-microbe regulation,building modular technology systems,and perfecting carbon-trading policies and green-finance instruments,thereby upgrading the wastewater treatment industry from a traditional energy consumer to a resource-output hub and offering a systematic solution for global carbon neutrality.