Keynote Speakers

Prof. Dr. Topik Hidayat

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia.

Genomic approaches to environmental studies

Abstract: We have witnessed the explosion of DNA technology in the last two decades in the field of biology, especilally in the environmental science. In particular, the application of genomic approaches in environmental studies offers an exciting new solutions because of the existence of complex microbial communities and their role in biological dynamics in the environment. Genomic itself refers to the explanation of the content, organization, regulation, mechanism and evolution of the genomes of organisms, including animals, plants and microorganisms. One of the main branches of genomic studies is Metagenomics. Metagenomics are also called as ecological genomics or environmental genomics because they involve analyzing and utilizing natural and ecological communities. In metagenomics study, microbial (bacteria is common) community analysis method is approached microbial genomes which goes beyond the limitation of pure culture technologies and thus does not rely on pure culture. Regarding this, one of our study which is about metagenomic analysis for river water quality assessment based on DNA sequences of 16S rDNA will be presented and discussed in this symposium.

Prof. Dr. Michihiko Ike

Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

Transforming Wastewater Treatment Plants to Biorefinery Plants: Waste Sludge as Biocatayste for Bioplastic Production

Abstract: A huge amount of excess sludge (WAS) is generated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as the waste. However, WAS has become recognized as a bioresource recently. Here a proposal was made to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) using WAS as the biocatalyst for greatly improving the resource value of WAS. PHAs are easily-degradable bioplastics, which are accumulated in certain microbes as the intercellular storage compounds. If PHAs can be produced by WAS using waste streams including those from regional industrial/agricultural activities as the substrates, WWTP will gain function of high-value material production, i.e. biorefinery plants, in addition to water clean-up. To assess the possibility of the proposed concept, this study evaluated the potential of WAS to accumulate PHAs from various substrates and actual/simulated industrial wastewaters (IWs). WAS obtained from a typical WWTP was aerobically cultivated with various substrates and IWs in nutrient-limited medium. Fatty acids, especially butyrate and pyruvate, were good substrates for PHAs accumulation by WAS. Sugars like glucoe and sucrose was utilized to accumulate PHAs and also glycogen. Further IWs could be utilized to significantly accumulate PHAs, reflecting the contained organic substrates. These results indicated that WAS has a significant potential to produce PHAs from various waste streams, and our concept is not “fiction”.

Keywords: wasetwater treatment plant; waste activated sludge; polyhydroxyalkanoates; biorefinery

Prof. Dr. Rajib Kumar Bhattacharjya

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India.

Source Identification of Contaminants in an Aquifer using Meta-Heuristic Optimization Based Inverse Model

Abstract: Groundwater contamination is one of the key problems that could take decades to be solved if not treated correctly. The contaminated groundwater is very difficult to restore to a potable state if one is unsure of the source of contamination and the source strength. This study aims at source identification for different initial conditions of the aquifer. The initial conditions can be defined into three categories: identifying the sources when the number of sources and the locations are known, identifying the sources when the number of sources is known, and identifying the sources with no information about the number of sources, location as well as the source strengths. Therefore, the problem of source identification is a mixed-integer problem as it contains the continuous variables (strength) and discrete (locations and number of locations) depending on the type of problem. For a given aquifer with a few observation wells detecting contamination, the problem is designed to predict the initial conditions of the aquifer to the time where the contamination happens. In this paper, we assumed the initial conditions of the aquifer and tested the outputs after modeling with the field outputs by minimizing their absolute errors. Such a type of modeling is called the inverse optimization approach. All the types of problems cannot be solved using classical optimization methods, and thus metaheuristic optimization techniques are required to be used to solve complex cases. In this paper, we have discussed the identification of unknown pollution source problem and their solution using different optimization-based strategies.

Keywords: Groundwater contamination, source identification, finite volume method, inverse optimization, metaheuristic algorithms

Dr. Ajeng Arum Sari

National Research and Innovation Agency – BRIN, Indonesia

Challenge of pollutant biodegradation by white-rot fungi

Abstract: Environmental problems are a major current challenge for modern societies. White rot fungi (WRF) are well known for their extensive pollutant degradation abilities. The extracellular ligninolytic systems of WRF that exhibit low substrate specificity, enable them to degrade different environmental contaminants. In recent decades, WRF and their ligninolytic enzymes have been widely applied in the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), pesticides, synthetic dyes, and other environmental pollutants, wherein promising results have been achieved. We present advances in WRF-based bioremediation of pollutants. Moreover, a new approach to facilitate the application of immobilization of WRF by using carrier system for WRF is introduced. The potential problems and observations that are worthy of additional research attention are also highlighted.

Keywords: Biodegradation; white-rot fungi; ligninolytic enzymes; immobilization system

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Palanivel Sathishkumar

South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.

Problems and ecological issues of pharmaceutical active compounds

Abstract: Nowadays, the increasing use of pharmaceutical drugs for human and animals is becoming a serious ecological problem and also these drug metabolites frequently detected in various environmental compartments. Especially, pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have been recognized as a possible threat to nontarget organisms due to their inherent biological activity and their “pseudo-persistence”. The present study, mainly focus on the global occurrence of diclofenac (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) in environmental compartment and it negative impact, because this PhACs cause a serious threat to nontarget organism, including vultures, aquatic animals, plants and mammals. Therefore, this drug has turned into a contaminant of emerging concern; hence, it was included in the previous Watch List of the EU Water Framework Directive. in mammals, diclofenac could cause gastrointestinal complications, neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, hematotoxicity, genotoxicity, teratogenicity, bone fractures, and skin allergy even at a low concentration. This study offers evidence of fragmentary available data for the water environment, soil, sediment, and biota worldwide and supports the need for further data to address the risks associated with the presence of diclofenac in the environment. Finally, this study suggest that the presence of diclofenac and its metabolites in the environment may represent a high risk because of their synergistic interactions with existing contaminants, leading to the development of drug-resistant strains and the formation of newly emerging pollutants.

Keywords: Diclofenc; Ecological problem; Environmental compartments; Mammals; Pharmaceutical drugs; Toxicity

Dr. Hesam Kamyab

Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Production of bioenergy and recovery of nutrients by microalgae produced from the agro-wastewater Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Abstract: Wastewater and environmental pollution are gaining interest in developing and developed countries. Malaysia is known as one of the world's biggest palm oil producers. Hence, it is important to develop an environmentally friendly and economical method for treating effluent from palm oil mills (POME). Wastewater can serve as an economical source or substrate of nutrients which can sustain microalgae cultivation. This can be a fantastic nutrient at the same time as remediating effluent and producing biomass for algal cultivation. Many microalgae species are currently being investigated to determine their potential and effectiveness for the application of phytoremediation, in particular high growth rates. However, it is expensive to use synthetic media to produce microalgae on a large scale. It is recognized that POME (as enriched media of nutrients) assisted enhanced growth of microalgae under certain conditions will considerably reduce the presence of organic and inorganic compounds. In this context, the ability of a wide range of predominant microalgae species with an emphasis on green microalgae (high efficiency of removal) has been investigated. In addition, we thoroughly explored the past, methods, and potential prospects of nutrient removal by green microalgae. This context addresses several possible strategies to resolve the environmental problem created by POME agro-waste water with an increase in the productivity of biomass that can be used as an alternative for energy production.