In 2012, on 2.125 million ha energy plants were cultivated in Germany to substitute fossil fuels. The biomass is mainly used for anaerobic fermentation. This practice results in problems such as reduction of soil organic matter contents, structure degradation and following consequences, e.g. erosion. An alternative to the anaerobic fermentation of fresh or ensilaged plant biomass is the utilization of organic waste. Within a joint research project the fermentation of organic waste is investigated, including the characterization of the fermentation substrates and the fermentation residues. The fermentation residues are conditioned and agglomerated to improve their fertilizer effects and to increase their storage stability and transportability. The effect of these pellets on soil physical properties and plant development are investigated in pot experiments and on the field scale.

Organic waste includes the disadvantage of an inhomogenous quality, influenced by season and locality. Pot experiments offer the possibility to investigate larger numbers of different digestate products while field experiments over three vegetation periods allow studying long-term effects of selected digestate products. In our subproject we focus on soil physical properties influenced by application of digestate products on the field scale and within pot experiments under greenhouse conditions.

Project partners:

Institut für Agrar- und Stadtökologische Projekte der Humboltd Universität Berlin (IASP)

Großmann Ingeniuer Consult GmbH (GICON)

Further information:

Förderprogramm BioProFi

Biogas Competence Network