Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALFA (Scaling up the market uptake of Renewable Energy Systems by unlocking the biogas potential of Agriculture and Livestock FArming)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-11-01 bis 2024-04-30
The EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050 have placed Renewable Energy Systems (RES) in the epicentre of the efforts invested by EU countries and the EU towards fighting climate change. Taking into account the current priorities, policies and targets of the EU as well as the technical limitations of the leading RES (namely wind and solar) in terms of reliability, the inclusion of diverse RES in the energy mix is imperative. The production of biogas from livestock farming manure is a sustainable renewable energy resource that follows circular economy principles. Biogas can provide a clean, renewable, and reliable source of baseload energy in place of coal or natural gas and can be utilized for different energy services such as heat, combined heat and electricity generation, or as transport fuel. Produced by anaerobic digestion, biogas can contribute significantly towards reaching the RES targets of the EU. Anaerobic digestion by-products can also be used to generate alternative revenue streams for livestock farms, while biomethane can feed into the natural gas pipelines or power energy intensive industries and sectors with renewable electricity under mutually beneficial industrial symbiosis models. However, despite the technological maturity, financial sense and commercial availability of anaerobic digestion techs, this potential is still largely untapped. In this context, the overall objective of the ALFA project is to tap the potential of biogas production from livestock farming to enhance the wider uptake of RES and increase the share of bioenergy as a baseload energy source, all while also ensuring reduced emissions from untreated animals’ waste and supporting the creation of new jobs and revenue for the livestock farming industry. ALFA is designed to act as a catalyst in six (6) EU target countries selected (Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Spain) as representative cases by providing demand driven support to over 50 livestock farmers to take up biogas solutions (direct heating, combined heat and electricity generation, biomethane) whilst providing a more informed basis for policy-makers and stakeholders by unveiling biogas market dynamics. Tools will be cocreated in cooperation with market actors and stakeholders to reduce investment risk and support more robust and efficient financial frameworks to allow massive scalability of biogas. ALFA will provide science-based information and training to livestock farming decision makers and stakeholders for the potential of biogas and raise the awareness of the general public on misperceptions about biogas and bioenergy.
ALFA early on in 2022 successfully established regional Hubs in six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Italy and Slovakia) and started engaging with local stakeholders to setup regional networks as an effective mechanism for engagement and cooperation with the local ecosystems. In setting the scene for the market uptake of biogas solutions the consortium analysed the state of play, identified regional differences, and investigated framework conditions to identify the drivers and barriers to biogas adoption in the EU livestock farming industry in two dedicated studies and a review of Case studies of livestock farms leading biogas uptake. ALFA Support Tools have also been created to provide actionable knowledge and science-based information to livestock farming for the potential of biogas and a fruitful environment for ideas exchange, networking and collaboration. All are available through the ALFA Engagement platform (alfaep.eu) and include: the Livestock Biogas Library with different kinds of materials, including articles, a Decision Support Tool (for assessing biogas projects in terms of profitability and environmental and social benefits), an interactive map with active Biogas Cases, an online repository named Knowledge Center with useful informative materials, and a Biogas Forum serving as an open environment for nurturing novel ideas, exchanging good practices etc.. During the summer of 2023 based on the identified needs and challenges ALFA organised six regional co-creation workshops (CCWs) in the target countries to formulate support measures which are replicable and effective in driving biogas adoption in the livestock farming industry. For the selection of the first cases to be supported by ALFA an open call was launched in December 2023 that closed in the end of February 2024 attracting 37 applications from eight EU countries and two from non-EU (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mali, Pakistan, Portugal Slovakia and Spain). After a transparent and efficient process 28 applicants were selected. Currently, the first round for the provision of support is in full swing, whilst dedicated capacity building activities are on the way and raising awareness campaigns are also in the phase of deployment in the six countries. The second round is scheduled to be launched in Autumn 2024 following an evaluation of activities and finetuning of material. Concurrently, during the same period mutual learning workshops and missions will begin to be organised in four selected European countries to enhance the sharing of best practices and experiences among all regions.
ALFA facilitates the wider uptake of biogas systems and techs in the livestock farming industry of six EU countries (Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Spain). By supporting the uptake of solutions that enable the sustainable exploitation of the massive amounts of animal waste available in Europe, ALFA directly contributes to the efforts of doubling biogas and biomethane production by 2030 and thus, towards increasing the share of renewable energy in the final energy consumption.
ALFA is expected to significantly enhance societal acceptance of biogas facilities and on-farm installations by delivering well-designed and custom-made awareness raising campaigns in the six selected EU countries. The campaigns will elicit science-based evidence from the ALFA Knowledge Centre and the Decision Support Tool to address misperception phenomena from citizens, focusing on the environmental, social and economic benefits of biogas facilities to the local community.
ALFA offers a meaningful basis for national and EU policy-makers and advisors to develop more informed biogas policies and analyse biogas market dynamics with evidence-based recommendations, knowledge and tools.
ALFA is expected to significantly enhance societal acceptance of biogas facilities and on-farm installations by delivering well-designed and custom-made awareness raising campaigns in the six selected EU countries. The campaigns will elicit science-based evidence from the ALFA Knowledge Centre and the Decision Support Tool to address misperception phenomena from citizens, focusing on the environmental, social and economic benefits of biogas facilities to the local community.
ALFA offers a meaningful basis for national and EU policy-makers and advisors to develop more informed biogas policies and analyse biogas market dynamics with evidence-based recommendations, knowledge and tools.