LIFE CONFERENCE 2010: MANURE MANAGEMENT Saragoza, 16 th 18 th June 2010 Integrated systems to enhance sequestration of carbon producing energy crops by using organic residues Sergio Piccinini CRPA - Research Centre on Animal Production Reggio Emilia, Italy
The area Emilia-Romagna Region
Emilia-Romagna Region LSU/UAA Ratio (year 2006) LSU Cattle / UAA < 0,5 0,5-0,75 0,75-1,00 1,00-1,50 > 1,50 LSU pig / UAA < 0,1 0,1-0,25 0,25-0,50 0,50-0,75 > 0,75 LSU poultry / UAA < 0,1 0,1-0,25 0,25-0,50 0,50-0,75 > 1
Emilia-Romagna Region Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Nitrate Vulnerable Zones non Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
The LIFE Seq-Cure Project LIFE ENVIRONMENT PROJECT 1 st December 2006 to 30 th June 2010 Total budget: 1.917.051 Beneficiary: C.R.P.A. SpA Scientific responsible: Prof. Giovanni Riva Università Politecnica delle Marche
Partners & Co-funders Partners CRPA SpA - Reggio Emilia Fondazione CRPA Studi e Ricerche Reggio Emilia Cooperativa Terremerse - Ravenna Azienda Sperimentale Tadini Piacenza Azienda Sperimentale Stuard Parma CIA Piacenza - Piacenza Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena (Germany) Co-funders Emilia-Romagna Region Parma Province Reggio Emilia Province Modena Province Bologna Province Ferrara Province Ravenna Province Forlì-Cesena Province ENÌA (Multiutility) HERA (Multiutility) Caviro
Main objectives Promotion of the start-up of agroenergy production chains sustainable both from the environmental and economic point of view Reduction of the environmental impact by using organic residues to fertilise energy crops Increase farmers' and technicians' knowledge on GHG emissions and C sequestration resulting from farming practices and agroenergy production cycles Development of a calculation method for the estimation of GHG emissions and C sequestration deriving from soil uses' changes
The project
Activities for the development of energy chains Demonstrative fields with energy crops: sorghum, triticale, hemp, sunflower, rape seed, poplar. Biomass characterisation Biomass management and energetic conversion Monitoring of the environmental, energetic and economical effects.
Activities for the monitoring of the environmental impact Agronomical trials on the use of residues of energy conversion Measurement of GHG emissions Monitoring of storage of organic matter in soil Development of an Internet service for the calculation of GHG emissions and C sequestration in soils. (together with Max Planck Institute)
Web application Implementation a web application for the calculation of GHG emissions and C sequestration in soils addressed to technicians. www.crpa.it/seqcure INPUTS Soil characteristics Crop rotation Fertilisation OUTPUTS N 2 O emissions C sequestration in soil
Networking, dissemination, demonstration and advisoring... European Orientation group Intensive courses Demonstration days Information days Articles, Internet website ( www.crpa.it/seqcure) Newsletters Workgroups Biomass Information offices Biomass information offices Sportello-biogas@crpa.it Sportello-olio@crpa.it Sportello-legno@crpa.it
RESULTS: BIOGAS Monitoring of plants Fontana farm 仈 pig slurry Mengoli farm agro-industrial residues, energy crops, dairy cattle slurry Agrienergy farm energy crops, agro-industrial residues, beef cattle slurry Cazzani farm energy crops, agro-industrial residues
RESULTS: BIOGAS Monitoring of plants Origin of the organic load Fontana Mengoli Agrienergy Cazzani 9,4% 23,6% 21,0% 5,0% 4,7% 100% 67,0% 74,0% 95,3% Livestock slurries Agro-industrial residues Energy crops Organic Load Rate [kg VS/m 3 /day] 1.0 2.5 1.9 4.1 Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) [days] 21 60 90 62
RESULTS: BIOGAS Monitoring of plants Characteristics of the AD plants Farms Reactors Volume Temperature Electric power Fontana CSTR 2 x 1370 m 3 36-38 C 90 + 125 kw Mengoli CSTR 2 x 1050 + 850 m 3 36-38 C 115 + 240 kw Agrienergy PFR+CSTR 1000 + 2 x 2400 m 3 36-38 C 845 kw Cazzani CSTR 2 x 2800 m 3 52-54 C 1450 kw
RESULTS: BIOGAS Monitoring of plants Energy performances Farms Methane (Nm 3 /kgvs) Electrical energy (kwh/kgvs) (kw/m 3 ) Fontana 0.28 0.99 0.042 Mengoli 0.24 0.80 0.097 Agrienergy 0.35 1.48 0.129 Cazzani 0.32 1.35 0.233 Co-digestion optimize the AD process and stabilize the energy production Long retention time better digestion
RESULTS: BIOGAS Monitoring of plants Profitability of the investments Farms Investment (M ) Pay Back Time (years) Internal Rate Return (%) Fontana 1.0 9.2 10.9 Mengoli 1.2 6.3 17.1 Agrienergy 3.5 3.5 30.7 Cazzani 7.0 5.1 21.0
What's the DIGESTATE Digestate is the residue of the anaerobic digestion process. It has good fertilising properties (similar to those of livestock slurries) Data on the characteristics of digestates with different origin: Parameters Unit of measurement Digestate from pig slurry Digestate from cattle slurry + agro-industrial residues + energy crops Digestate from agro-industrial residues + energy crops ph - 8.3 7.8 7.9 Total Solids (TS) % fm 3.0 4.3 6.8 Volatile Solids (VS) % TS 52 66 65 Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) g/kg fm 3.9 3.8 4.0 Ammoniacal Nitrogen % TKN 77 62 53 Total Phosphorus g/kg fm 0.8 0.5 0.5
Nitrogen in digestate Anaerobic digestion mineralize part of the organic nitrogen to ammonium nitrogen.
Digestate to fertilize crops The main advantages of using digestate to fertilize crops: Distribution of a stabilized material; Organic matter input to soils; NPK input (mineral fertilisers replacement); GHG emissions reduced.
Digestate = Less odours Measurements on odour concentrations Treatment 1: Cattle slurry, NOT digested Treatment 2: Cattle slurry, digested
Digestate = Organic matter OM concentration in Italian soils in general is quite low Organic Carbon content in topsoil in Italy (from JRC)
Biogas in Italy (03/2010) Biogas plants on animal manure, agroindustrial residues, energy crops CRPA carried out a census that identified 273 AD plants; some of them (74) are in building. About the 50% operate in co-digestion of manure with energy crops (maize, sorghum ) and residues from agro-industry; Almost all the plants are located in the northern regions.
Biogas in Italy (03/2010) Biogas plants on animal manure, agroindustrial residues, energy crops 1 35 102 33 36 33 4 273 Biogas plants (74 in building) 3 3 2 7 4 1 2 1 3 3
Sergio Piccinini s.piccinini@crpa.it www.crpa.it/seqcure