Mid Sweden University

Contaminated sites in low prioritized regions demand remediation technologies that are cost- and energy-effective and locally adapted. Parameters such as the time frame during which bioremediation degradation needs to occur may not be as restraining as in urban environments. This licentiate project aims to explore opportunities and constraints for appropriate soil remediation based on organic by-products in tropical developing countries and sparsely populated areas in industrial countries. Ecological Engineering and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development were explored as planning tools to steer bioremediation methods towards sustainability. The use of the five concepts of Ecological Engineering within the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development can steer bioremediation in low prioritized regions towards sustainability. Pilot-scale and laboratory experiments were undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of such bioremediation methods. Experiments carried out at the experiment station in Chontales, Nicaragua showed some promising results, but also revealed problems associated with the clay rich soils, which are typical for tropical regions. Treatment of diesel contaminated ultisol with 6 mL whey kg^-1 dw in a pilot-scale experiment considerably increased the degradation rate of diesel constituents, but no effects on the degradation rates were observed after treatment with compost tea or pyroligneous acid.The soil columns study suggests that despite a favorable particle size distribution for microbial transport, the sandy loam retained a greater fraction of the microorganisms present in the ACT in the top 10 cm than the clay loam, presumably because the lower bulk density and higher SOM in the clay loam aided transport and growth of microorganisms.