Objective
Manure treatment deriving from poultry farms is a continuously increasing problem. Poultry farms are characterized by a lack of proportion between bred animals and farmed area. This imbalance is intensified in farms where there is no agricultural land as in such cases large amounts of manure are generated respect to farmland intended to receive it resulting in intolerable soil and aquifer pollution levels.
Manure collection is costly for farmers and it does not solve the problem definitively. On the other side, farms are energy-intensive and main expenses relate to the consumption of electricity and heat. Using poultry manure to reduce or eliminate such cost, could represent an interesting solution that would become vital in order to maintain farms competitive.
Today existing manure valorisation systems based on biomass combustion are not a viable solution for farms with low number of animals - for economical reasons.
La Coro through the last years developed an innovative solution for this problem. The main objective of the project is the realisation of a pilot plant and market introduction of a highly efficient and flexible biomass cogeneration system that is able to transform poultry manure (but also other manure and biomass types) in thermal and electric energy (“total energy system”), with the particularity of being usable also in small farms.
The innovative solution will recover and valorise manure through gasification and electricity production, avoid disposal and soil contamination problems, substitute today used fossil fuels thus achieving important benefits for farmers not only in terms of economic savings but also in environmental terms of CO2 reduction. The economic saving on the long run will increase their competitiveness.
In short: waste reuse plus cost reduction equals more efficiency and higher competitiveness.
Market introduction will start from poultry farms, then it will be extended gradually to other livestock farms.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringelectric energy
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpower engineeringelectric power generationcombined heat and power
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
25035 OSPITALETTO
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.