NDU alumnus Charbel Abou Khalil, Master of Engineering (M. Eng.), Water Management and Geoenvironmental Engineering student and research assistant at NDU, ranked in the top three among 50 applicants in Environmate, an environmental accelerator supported by the Global Compact Network Lebanon (GCNL).
Under the supervision of Dr. Sophia Ghanimeh, Abou Khalil’s project titled, “Generation of Clean Energy and Liquid Fertilizer from the Co-digestion of Food Waste and Wastewater,” came in second place.
Environmate’s ultimate objective is to create a proper framework for homegrown solutions that address today’s most pressing energy and environmental challenges in Lebanon. It stresses on funding, developing, motivating, and offering better chances for young bright Lebanese “ecopreneurs,” who have big concepts and designs, to embark upon different environmental challenges by providing them with the vision, inducements, and resources to grow their ideas into practical implementation.
Lebanon’s environment faces an array of challenges, including severe energy deficiency, food waste, not to mention the fact that untreated wastewater generated from households and industries is being discharged in open water bodies every day. If Abou Khalil’s project were to be implemented, it would contribute toward solving one of the main environmental issues in the country today.
Abou Khalil said, “We believe that the key to better protect the environment is to provide local communities with solutions that are affordable and easily accessible.”