Scaling up biogas production requires a stable fertilizer supply

In manure processing, more and more initiatives are taking off. New projects are also constantly being added, for example for the production of biogas. A stable manure supply helps in this regard, but whether this can be achieved is questionable in today's era. 

The municipal executive of the municipality of Moerdijk (North Brabant) wants to provide space for manure processing in the much-discussed industrial park, and the IJkoud cooperative in Twente wants to scale up the biogas network. In Varsseveld, the AgroGas project is about to actually start after years of procedures and Zitta Biogas in Tilburg, Brabant, reports that it has received a renewed SDE decision for a period of 10 years, which means that their large-scale manure processing project can now be realized. . Construction is expected to start this summer and will take a year to complete.

All types of manure
All types of manure will be processed in Tilburg, there are no dry matter and phosphate maximums. This is due to the size of the installation. As a result, there are fewer restrictions on the fertilizer composition, because the output remains very stable. Most likely, the lion's share of the manure supplied is from pigs. After all, livestock farmers must comply with the VVO obligation, which can be done by supplying Zitta Biogas.

The intention is that Zitta Biogas will annually process 240.000 cubic meters of manure, fully processed into pure water and a dried granule that complies with the manure processing obligation. In addition, more than 25 million cubic meters of biogas is produced, which is converted at the installation into sustainable electricity, heat and green gas.

100% utilization
But while one manure processing initiative after another comes to life or revives, the manure supply is no longer increasing. However, it is important for the efficiency and survival of installations that they are 100% full, says Willem Berkhof, fertilizer distributor and one of the initiators of the Greenferm fertilizer processing project in Apeldoorn.

Partly due to the corona crisis, the official commissioning of the installation, which can process 350.000 cubic meters of manure annually, was again delayed. The time has finally come at the end of this month, after construction had already stagnated last autumn. Now that the start is actually imminent and the silos at the Ecofactorij industrial estate in Apeldoorn have been filled, the time has also come to collect the manure from the contractors.

Shrinking livestock
In the meantime, the manure stock in livestock farming has been spread out and/or transported to manure processing installations in record time in the past month. The livestock has been shrinking for several years and the storage space at the livestock farmers is increasing. Partly because of this, the peaks in the fertilizer supply are also increasing, whereby the weather also plays a major role. Regular discharge to processors is a welcome addition to the peaks and troughs in manure distribution and application, says Berkhof. “It is becoming increasingly important for distributors to ensure continuity for their fleet.”

No gas but compost
Berkhof points out that Greenferm has deliberately chosen not to use fermentation. The yield of fermentation is highly dependent on the manure prices, but according to him it is also not profitable without SDE subsidy. That is why Greenferm makes a composted product that can cross the border germ-free as a valuable organic fertilizer product and which meets the requirements of the Fertilizers Act.

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