THE MINDANAO State University-Iligan Institute of Technology signed an agreement with East China University of Science and Technology of Shanghai, China in an effort to improve the country’s solid waste treatment and energy conversion capabilities.

The project is entitled ‘Key Technological Research of Philippines and China Based on Mobile Co-hydrothermal Treatment of Municipal Solid Wastes-Agricultural Biomass and Gasification for Power Generation’.

It aims to develop a solid waste treatment and power generation technology with a process design package based on the mobile co-hydrothermal treatment of MSW-agricultural biomass and gasification.

A Memorandum of Agreement was signed by project leaders Dr. Alexander Mosqueda and Dr. Ding Lu, MSU-IIT Vice Chancellor of Academic and Affairs, along with Dr. Franco Teves, and ECUST President Xuan Fu Zhen.

Under the agreement, MSU-IIT and ECUST will be responsible for the management and implementation of the project, including the operation of hydrothermal treatment, gasification, and power generation.

Both institutions will also carry out research, discuss the progress, publish papers, and jointly complete the conclusion of the project.

“The said project was among the eight out of 37 capsule proposals submitted that were approved for funding and implementation. The proposals were reviewed and matched with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology,” MSU-IIT said.

“The project is funded under the Department of Science and Technology, Philippines and the Ministry of Science and Technology, and China Joint Research Program. It has an annual budget of P8 million from DOST and RMB 1 million (approximately P7,537,541) from MOST-JRP for two years,” it added.

The modular system of the project will be useful in disaster and pandemic situations where mobility is limited, while also providing China with an alternative to incineration.