What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the biological breakdown of organic material by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. AD produces biogas, a methane-rich gas that can be used as a fuel, and digestate, a source of nutrients that can be used as a fertiliser. AD is rapidly expanding worldwide due to numerous sustainability benefits and can help governments meet their EU Renewable Energy and EU Renewable Waste Framework Directives which have 50% targets set for 2020, promoting circular economy. However, AD produces a large amount of nutrient waste called digestate. Disposal of this slurry can be problematic as it usually needs to be spread on fields or disposed via wastewater treatment plants.
Why is it important for society?
Digestate is a natural fertiliser, containing water, valuable nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium) and organic carbon suitable for soils. Digestate is the remaining part of the feedstock originally fed into the digester once the gas is extracted. AD locks in the feedstock’s nutrients in digestate. However, there is a serious problem with disposing of the current volume of digestate produced. Its value is underrated but it offers significant agricultural & environmental benefits allowing nutrients to be recycled back into the land, supporting the circular economy.
What are the overall objectives?
This Phase 1 Feasibility Study aimed to objectively and rationally analyse the novel digestate technology. We assessed the business model from several angles: technical, economical and operational. Furthermore, it provides parallel analysis which are of key importance to developing a success strategy: a market assessment, an initial route to market strategy and an exploitation plan, which analyses different commercialisation channels. In order to introduce the technology to multiple sectors within the AD industry, with a focus on-farm AD and commercial organic waste AD.
We carried out this research in several stages, reflecting our development priorities alongside this Horizon 2020 Phase 1 project. Our conclusions are that we identified and assessed the AD/digestate management market, alongside commercialisation opportunities.
