Using contaminated wastewater to generate clean electricity with carbon reactor technology

July 15, 2026

Pfasgone’s innovative carbon reactor technology efficiently generates electricity and reduces the need for fresh water by utilising municipal waste and sewage

Around the world, water scientists are worrying about how to get rid of PFAS. Medical professionals in the healthcare sector are concerned about the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and viruses, which are primarily transmitted through sewage systems.

We can offer a solution for both of these real-world health problems. We never set out to solve these problems. The technology we use is designed to generate electricity from carboniferous waste materials in a highly energy-efficient manner.

My personal expertise is in hydrogen, and whilst searching for a source of carbon dioxide to produce SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), I came across carbon reactor technology. Inside the reactor is a reaction called Supercritical Water Oxidation, occurring at 700°C and a pressure of 300 BAr. Everything inside the reactor is reduced to elemental atoms. Because the feedstock is mostly some sort of hydrocarbons plus water, the hydrogen atoms react with oxygen atoms, and the carbon also reacts with oxygen, creating enormous heat in a chain reaction. This drives a turbo expander, which in turn drives an electricity generator, producing electricity at an impressive thermal efficiency of 80%. Your car probably operates at about 30% efficiency, and coal-fired power stations generally range from 32% to 45% efficient. These carbon reactors could not be built until steel alloys became available that could withstand these enormous pressures.

After driving the turbine expander, the (already captured gases) steam and CO2 can be used. The highly purified water/steam can be used for district heating and then returned as freshwater for reuse in the city or town. Research by Professor Craig Sheridan of WITS University in Johannesburg indicates that a city’s freshwater needs can be reduced by about 70% if wastewater is reused. This is vital in water-scarce areas. Even in the UK, they are considering desalination as a source of freshwater, citing a 4.7 billion litres-per-day shortfall in the future. However, Thames Water alone treats about 4.7 billion litres of sewage wastewater per day, but certainly not to drinking water standards of purification.

What Pfasgone offers to New York City (NYC)

Half-price affordable electricity to all citizens
Up to 70% lower need for fresh potable water for NYC
Return on Investment (ROI) period of eight months

Pfasgone uses revolutionary new technology called carbon reactors, along with our IP on methodology and our proprietary, constantly variable algorithm. Inside the reactor, all carbon materials react, generating heat and pressure, which are used to produce highly energy-efficient electricity.

©shutterstock/kawing921

Development stage: Carbon reactors are currently commercially available and will be built to the required specifications.

Proven and verified: Ardau, the carbon reactor manufacturer, has used SGS to run testing on both MSW and SWW. SGS is a large and reputable testing and verification company.

Pfasgone aims to sell its technology to cities and towns throughout the UK, Europe, the USA, and Canada.

What does the high efficiency mean for the cities around the world?

Energy efficiency mobile app on screen. Ecology, eco house concept — ©shutterstock/Proxima Studio

The Pfasgone solution for cities:

USA; New York State: The city of Albany pays disposal costs of $84 per ton of MSW.

Pfasgone uses garbage (known as municipal solid waste (MSW) for the carbon reactors. The carbon reactors also need water as a feedstock so that Pfasgone will utilise the city’s sewage wastewater. Both sewage and MSW disposal are costs to the city. Pfasgone enables cities to generate saleable electricity, thereby converting the waste disposal costs into profit centres.

New York cities can sell half-price electricity to citizens ($142 per MWh) and receive $340 in electricity sales for each metric ton of MSW. A total benefit to the city of $520.90 per metric ton of MSW.

Electricity generation

The cities and towns and their citizens are the entities that benefit the most, citizens because our carbon reactors enable cities/towns to sell electricity at half price for citizens/households and cities/towns because they are already spending enormous amounts to deal with MSW and SWW (Sewage wastewater). These cost savings enable cities/towns to generate electricity for a negative cost.

In the UK, the typical negative electricity cost would be – £191.39 per MWh and depending on the size of the volume flow of SWW, each city or town would require a number of 50MWh carbon reactors. The individual carbon reactors are 5 MWe modular units that provide a reliable electrical supply; if one fails, 45 MWe of power is still available.

Each 50MW carbon reactor would provide the UK city with a benefit/profit of £145.5m per year, provided the city sells 90% of the half-price electricity generated.

SAF production

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) each 50 Mwe unit can produce sufficient CO2 for SAF production adjacent to the electricity production. Epiphany Energy from Vancouver will be supplying the Gas-to-Liquids technology, along with a highly efficient Hydrogen production company, such as PinkH2 Ltd, another company of mine that is in the process of finalising its sale. The new owners have expressed a strong interest in SAF production, and I will continue consulting for PinkH2 for another two years to enable this.

Sales channels

We already have strong interest from Durham Council, and the Council Leader, Andrew Husband, is keen to get moving on this project. We also have a high-level contact in the New York City Council.

What is dangerous PFAS - Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances - and where is it found?PFAS are dangerous synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds — ©shutterstock/Francesco Scatena

Pfasgone has completed Techno-economic Assessments (TEAs) for the UK, Germany, Canada, and the US cities. Our TEA of the sewage waste water treatment plant, called South Durham SWWTP (Sewage waste water treatment plant), determined that it would need 26 x 50 MWhe carbon reactor units, thus providing Durham with 26 x £145.5m in profit/benefit amounts to a net profit for Durham of £3.78bn.

Bankrupt cities

PFASgone technology can provide much-needed revenue for cities.

In Germany, around 37% of cities are unable to balance their budgets.

In the USA, a 2023 study found that 50 out of the 75 largest cities in the country were running a deficit.

In New York City, the deficit was projected to be over $12bn.

Pfasgone: The technology

Pfasgone technology utilises sewage wastewater (SWW) and municipal solid waste (MSW) as feedstocks to generate electricity. It is highly energy efficient. PFASgone simultaneously eliminates PFAS from the sewage water and returns the water as potable water. Re-use of wastewater typically saves 70% of the drinking water supplied by a city’s water company.

Typical energy-from-waste technologies, such as incinerators, operate at 19-24% thermal efficiency. That means 1 metric ton of MSW will make 0.68 MWh of electricity.

Pfasgone technology will operate at 85% thermal efficiency when combined with SAF production, producing 2.4 MWh of saleable electricity per metric ton of MSW.