The Life in Brief project held a participatory event at the Palau de Vivel in Vall dÙixó on 15 March, presenting the conclusions of its three years of execution.

 

The Life in Brief project (LIFE14 ENV/ES/000427), coordinated by AIDIMME, has proposed the development of a “green” business model based on a more efficient operation of biogas plants that starts from an adequate management of the entry of organic resources -generally of proximity- and a valorization of the main waste -the digestate- in the form of different types of fertilizers.

The current management of the digestate, in fact, represents not only an economic problem but also an environmental problem due to the large volumes that are generated. The project has demonstrated that by means of a technological solution perfectly acceptable for biogas plants, this residue can be transformed into products of high added value, assimilable to currently existing categories of organic fertilizers, as the agronomic validation developed in the project has demonstrated.

The demonstration of this business model, materialized in the biogas plant of Vall d’Uixó, managed by AEMA, has had a markedly local character, with partners from the same city (the fertilizer manufacturer COMPO EXPERT and the managers of irrigation networks FORNERS) and the coordination of AIDIMME and the technical collaboration of the engineering specialized in biogas LUDAN. The city council of the city has lent itself to collaborate contributing urban areas for the agronomic validation in this environment.

The event began with the introductions of the councillors of the Vall d’Uixó Town Council Fernando Darós (Environment and Agriculture) and Jorge García (Economic Promotion), who highlighted the participation of local companies in the project and the “commitment to research and innovation to develop new technologies that benefit the economy, the environment and sustainability” creating an opportunity for public-private collaboration at the local level.

The successive presentations of the business model, the management of incoming organic waste, digestate processing and agronomic validations were carried out by Francisco Bosch, from AIDIMME, Jorge Samper from AEMA, David Alonso, Technical Manager of COMPO EXPERT and Juan Manuel Marín, from FORNERS.

In the second part of the Forum, a round table was held on the business models linked to biogas plants and how the results of the project fit into the operating models of these facilities. The round table was moderated by Luis Puchades, from the company BIOVIC. He was accompanied by Francisco Bosch, project coordinator, Jorge Samper, manager of the Vall d’Uixó biogas plant, Fernando Suárez (SIDEMA Consultores) and Jorge Tinas from AEBIG (Spanish Biogas Association). The roundtable established an exchange of views, needs, opportunities and limitations of potential users of the business model.

The main ideas generated by this part of the Forum were:

  • Without digestate treatment, biogas projects are environmentally and economically incomplete.
  • The recovery of the digestate can not only positively modify the profitability point of these farms, but can also eliminate environmental costs that are often “invisible”.
  • The application of this model will be specific to each plant (size, type of digestate, distance to partners, integration into urban or rural environment, etc.).

About forty people attended the event, belonging to the sectors of the agents involved in the subject, such as waste managers, biogas plant operators, agricultural cooperatives, companies dedicated to water management, irrigation communities, farmers, fertilizer formulators and users, etc.

During the Forum, a survey was distributed to the attendees, which can be completed online at the following link: http://www.lifeinbrief.eu/cuestionario-asistentes-foro/

This post is also available in: Spanish