Valorising anaerobic digestates into bio-fertilisers for climate friendly agriculture

Introduction

Biogas is a key solution to combat global warming and to reduce dependency on non-sustainable energy resources. However, apart from the production of biogas, considerable volumes of digestate are generated as a by-product. This digestate is mostly applied on the fields as fertilizer, though it has severe environmental impacts with varying outcomes such as GHG emissions, water pollution, and solid contamination.

Project Objectives

LIFE DIMITRA aims to improve the sustainability of agricultural management practices by valorizing biogas digestate for the production of higher value bio-based fertilizers. By advancing the current state-of-the-art in various aspects of sustainable digestate valorization and management, the project will promote the diffusion and adoption of low-carbon technologies for biogas digestate. This will result in win-win benefits in:

1. Climate change mitigation
2. Crop yield enhancement
3. Increased farm profitability

Technological Solutions

The proposed technological solutions will be demonstrated by the installation of two DEMOs in existing and operational AD plants located in Greece and Italy. Digestate will be transformed into different bio-based fertilizing formulations, which will be validated and demonstrated at the farm level.

Business and Exploitation Plan

A business and exploitation plan will be developed to prepare for the market entry of the demonstrated technological solutions. Detailed technical and financial deployment plans will be established for replicating the systems in the agrowaste sector. Additionally, the transferability potential in other promising economies, particularly in the food and beverage (F&B) sector, will be assessed.

Knowledge Exchange Platform

The development and operation of an open Knowledge Exchange Multi-Stakeholders' Platform throughout the project will support effective engagement and interaction with key target groups.

Policy Intervention

Finally, the project will promote policy intervention through the development of evidence-based policy recommendations formulated for decision-makers at the EU, national, and regional levels. This will be documented in a Policy Brief, and suggestions will also be made for the revision of the BAT Reference Document for Waste Treatment via the European IPPC Bureau.