Project description
A greener and cheaper alternative to chemical fertiliser
It is now possible for farmers to produce environmentally friendly fertiliser on the farm using manure, air and electricity. The solution improves food production and reduces impact on air, ecosystems and climate. Treating liquid manure increases the content of nitrogen and reduces the nutrient loss, leading to higher yields and less emissions from food production. A small-scale unit is placed locally on the farm and enables fertiliser production to be re-distributed to the end-user, the farmer, cutting long and expensive value chains and reducing the need for chemical fertiliser. The EU-funded Sustainable Manure project will commercialise this innovative technology, making it profitable for farmers. Overall, global food production will be improved, productivity increased and emissions reduced.
Objective
This project's main objective is the commercialisation of a breakthrough technology for upgrading livestock manure to an improved
fertiliser. The overall aim of the project is to fundamentally improve global food production, by increasing productivity and
reducing emissions. The technology enables farmers to produce environmentally friendly fertiliser on the farm using slurry or biogas digestate, air and electricity. The technology is a manure processing unit that consists of a plasma reactor, an absorption
system and a plasma generator with power supply. The consortium consists of three organisations, ScanArc Plasma Technologies AS,
University of Antwerp and N2 Applied.
The plasma technology for treating livestock manure, is an innovative technology with the following benefits:
• providing a cost-effective alternative to chemical fertiliser, and thus improving farm economics
• ensuring compliance with stricter environmental regulations, which in turn mitigates risk for farmers and ensures business
continuity
• reducing emissions in the farm-cycle and thus contributing to reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution
• removing odour, giving the farmer flexibility in spreading, optimising the fertilising effect of manure, which reduces nutrient loss and pollution.
This FTI proposal consists of the following measurable objectives:
1. Optimisation of the plasma reactor, with a focus on improving the energy efficiency
2. Optimisation of the absorption system, with a focus on increasing the processing capacity
3. Develop a commercial unit design for serial production with stable continuous operations and low maintenance
4. Piloting and testing to verify the performance of the organic fertiliser
5. Communication and dissemination
University of Antwerp is developing the plasma technology to make nitrogen fixation from air a valid alternative to fossil fertiliser
production, Scanarc develops the plasma units and N2 develops the total concept for the farmer.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesplasma physics
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
0191 Oslo
Norway
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.