Biogas Plant Operation: Digestate as the Valuable Product

Fertilization is an essential element in plant cultivation. Supplying the right amounts of nutrients allows plants to grow and develop. Due to the rising price of mineral fertilizers, other fertilizers and soil conditioners are growing in importance. One of these is the digestate produced in agricul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2022-11, Vol.15 (21), p.8275
Main Authors: Czekała, Wojciech, Jasiński, Tomasz, Grzelak, Mieczysław, Witaszek, Kamil, Dach, Jacek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Biogas
biogas plant
Biomass energy
circular economy
Composts
Decomposition
Fertilization
Fertilizers
Fractions
Nutrients
Plant growth
Raw materials
Refuse as fuel
renewable energy
Soil conditioners
Soil conditions
Soil ecology
Soil environment
Soil fertility
Thermal transformations
waste management
waste to fertilizer
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Summary:Fertilization is an essential element in plant cultivation. Supplying the right amounts of nutrients allows plants to grow and develop. Due to the rising price of mineral fertilizers, other fertilizers and soil conditioners are growing in importance. One of these is the digestate produced in agricultural biogas plants. Due to its properties, the digestate can be used directly as a fertilizer. In this case, the effects of application can both change the soil environment and directly affect plant growth. Physical, biological, and thermal transformations can also produce products based on the digestate or its fractions, which can be successfully used for fertilizer purposes. Among other things, this paper discusses the production and use of composts, biocarbon, and/or fertilizer granules from the solid fraction of the digestate. Numerous scientific studies, including the authors’ own research in this article, indicate that digestate can be successfully used as fertilizer, both without processing and with selected methods of treatment. However, further research is needed—especially on the diversity of raw materials used for biogas production and their effects on the composition and performance of the digestate. In addition, research should continue on the processing of digestate into specific products, depending on the needs of soils and plants.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en15218275