| Project number | 101113253 |
| Project name | Valorising anaerobic digestates into bio-fertilisers for climate friendly agriculture |
| Project acronym | LIFE22-CCM-EL-DIMITRA |
| Project Starting date | September 1, 2023 |
| Project Duration | 56 months |
| Project Coordinator | Dr. Dimitris Malamis |
| URL | https://life-dimitra.eu/ |
While biogas serves as a source of renewable energy, the digestate produced from anaerobic digestion, when used as fertilizer, can cause environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. The LIFE DIMITRA project pioneers the implementation of sustainable agricultural solutions, addressing the environmental challenges associated with biogas production in anaerobic digestion plants.
LIFE DIMITRA promotes the agricultural utilization of digestate from anaerobic digestion plants by producing high value-added bio-fertilizers. The cutting-edge technologies of LIFE DIMITRA will be applied at two demonstration units (DEMO), in Greece and Italy, aiming to mitigate climate change, increase crop efficiency, and enhance the profitability of anaerobic digestion plants and farmers. The project advocates for a more sustainable future by developing detailed business plans, replicating project results, and facilitating future application in other sectors of the economy through knowledge exchange, active stakeholder engagement, and the development of policy proposals for digestate management.
DEMO 1 (NTUA) will be located in Greece and will process 50 tons of digestate daily, producing compost, solid organic fertilizer, (NH4)2SO4, and treated water. DEMO 2 (UNIVR) will be located in Italy and will process 20 tons of digestate daily, producing solid fertilizer, ultrafiltration concentrate, reverse osmosis concentrate, and water. The resulting products will be tested on agricultural crops in the area around the anaerobic digestion plants, demonstrating the viability of the technologies proposed by the project.
The expected environmental benefits include:
- 25000 CO2 eq. / year reduction
- 48tn/d water recovery from DEMOs to be used for water needs within the farm (circular economy) or for irrigation purposes
- 5-10 fold increase in nutrient content by mass
- 40% increase in stabilised carbon content
- 15% increase in crop yield/acre
- 60% odour elimination from spreading untreated digestate
