Dr Mariano Marinari
Job: Environmental Engineer
Employer: ARPA Lombardia (Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment)
PhD Thesis: Quantification and valorisation of agricultural bioresource residues in England
PhD Supervisors: Dr Tom Arnot and Dr Marcelle McManus
PhD Industrial Supervisor: Ian Law, Wessex Water
Abstract
Macronutrients (N and P) surplus in surface waters and groundwater is mainly due to diffuse pollution from agricultural activities whereas a marginal contribution arises from effluents from waste water treatment works. Water companies have already made considerable investments to comply with statutory limits for N and P in surface water and groundwater. However, alternative measures are needed to prevent eutrophication. The research sets out to look at strategies to optimally manage and dispose of locally sourced livestock manures with the supplement of other organic wastes, such as crop residues and food waste, in small and medium size waste water treatment works through anaerobic digestion. Specifically, it examines whether the addition of local biomass resources could make the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in small-medium size waste water treatment works viable and sustainable in terms of Life Cycle Assessment compared to the “business as usual” scenario. In addition, it explores under what circumstances this approach would be advantageous for both farmers and water companies and potential positive effects on nutrient load on water quality.
Biography
On successful completion of his PhD in 2018 Mariano initially worked as a freelance environmental consultant for EcoNomad Solutions Limited. He also taught applied mathematics at a state secondary school in Italy. Mariano is currently an environmental engineer for ARPA Lombardia in Italy (Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Lombardia).
Mariano was a PhD student in the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training between 2014-2018 and was based at the University of Bath. His PhD researched “Quantification and valorisation of agricultural bioresource residues in England”.
Mariano’s academic background prior to WISE was in environmental engineering, following which he started his career in the Renewable Energy Industry to look at the Environmental Impact Assessments of mini hydro power plants. Mariano then moved to the solar industry, first as designer of domestic scale medium-large scale as well as on ground photovoltaic systems and then as Managing Officer in a consultancy delivering small medium and large size photovoltaic systems. He subsequently spent five months for an internship at Wagner Solar UK Ltd in the UK to learn solar thermal technologies and programming skills by developing an Excel based tool in Visual Basic for Application to make commercial quotations of solar systems. In Glasgow, he achieved his Master by Research in Contaminated Land.
Research Interests
- Waste water treatments
- Reuse and recycling of waste water
- Waste to energy
- Urban drainage systems.
