Underground coal gasification (UCG) is considered an environmentally and economically viable option toward the exploitation of coal resources in which the EU is relatively rich. The most serious environmental risk of UCG is the contamination of water. So, UCGWater+ project is dedicated to investigate approaches for UCG water remediation, including exploring innovative solutions that stem from the coal sector itself and make use of the “turning waste into a resource” concept of Circular Economy, one of the main pillars of the European Green Deal.
Hence, UCGWater+ aims to develop a novel family of carbonaceous adsorbents using the UCG contaminants (coal tar products) and residues (chars) as precursors. These adsorbents and electrocoagulation methods will be used for the purification of polluted waters in combination with bioremediation based on constructed wetlands.