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Land conditioners and plant fertilisers from biomass energy generation by-products Lois Ricketts ADBA R&D Forum, Southampton, 15 th April 2015
Land conditioners and plant fertilisers from biomass energy
generation by-products
Lois RickettsADBA R&D Forum, Southampton, 15th April 2015
Presentation overview
• Stopford
• Energy generation by-products
• Conventional fertilisers
• Our project
Company Overview
Stopford is an international energy and environment consultancy providing innovative multi-disciplinary solutions to a global market leveraging over 30 years of experience
Clients
“Can you get £100 per tonne from digestate?”
An energy-industry problem
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000 1
99
0
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
20
12
Year
Ele
ctri
city
Ge
ne
rate
d (
GW
h)
Plant Biomass (1)
Animal Biomass (2)
Anaerobic Digestion
By-products are ubiquitous for solid fuel energy conversion processes
◦ Thermal processes - ashes, vitrified slags
◦ AD - digestate
Source; Digest of UK energy statistics (DUKES) 2014
(1) Includes the use of straw combustion and short rotation coppice energy crops.
(2) Includes the use of poultry litter and meat & bone.
Masses of ash…
• 50 operating dedicated biomass plants in 2013(1)
◦ Total electrical output 1849MW
• 620,000 TPA ash
• 174 Olympic swimming pools worth of ash…
• A further 300MW under construction
• 3,600MW awaiting construction
◦ Potential for 2,000,000 TPA
(1) Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), excluding small-scale domestic installations
…and digestate
• Currently 152 operating AD units in the UK
• 88 of which are “waste-fed”
◦ Operational capacity of 6.3M TPA
◦ Estimated mass of digestate ~6.3M TPA
◦ 2,500 Olympic sized swimming pools
• So how do we turn these wastes into an economic benefit?
Why Ash?
• Ash contains inorganic minerals; potassium,
phosphorus, calcium and magnesium are
particularly abundant
• Plants require these minerals for nutrition
• Ash is a cost to most operators; £80/T to landfill
◦ Estimated £50M annually
• Digestate provides nitrogen, organic matter, trace nutrients etc
• Known difficulties
◦ Quality and consistency
◦ Dewatering
Conventional fertilisers
• Highly formulated, consistent product
• Supply N, P, K
• 100% phosphate, 30% of potash and almost 90% of sulphur is imported to the UK.
UK Fertiliser Use
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
19
65
19
70
19
75
19
80
19
85
19
90
19
95
20
00
20
05
20
10
Year
Fe
rtil
ise
r u
se i
n U
K k
t p
er
ye
ar
Nitrogen
Phosphate
Potash
Estimated 620,000 TPA ash
Tonnes per annum
in ash% UK usage
P2O5 25,032 13
K2O 88,785 34
259 kt/y
188 kt/y
Fertiliser prices
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Ap
r-2
00
3
Sep
-20
03
Feb
-20
04
Jul-
20
04
De
c-2
00
4
Ma
y-2
00
5
Oct
-20
05
Ma
r-2
00
6
Au
g-2
00
6
Jan
-20
07
Jun
-20
07
No
v-2
00
7
Ap
r-2
00
8
Sep
-20
08
Feb
-20
09
Jul-
20
09
De
c-2
00
9
Ma
y-2
01
0
Oct
-20
10
Ma
r-2
01
1
Au
g-2
01
1
Jan
-20
12
Jun
-20
12
No
v-2
01
2
Ap
r-2
01
3
Date
On
fa
rm p
rice
s (£
/to
nn
e)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Eu
rop
e B
ren
t S
po
t P
rice
FO
B (
Do
lla
rs p
er
Ba
rre
l)
Di-ammonium phosphate
Mono-ammonium phosphate
Potash
Ammonium sulphate
Triple superphosphate
Crude Oil Price
Our project
• NERC funded Resource Recovery from Waste project
• Develop soil conditioners and fertilisers from ash and digestate
• Assess the environmental impact and any detrimental effects of using the products
Ashes and digestates Conventional fertilisers
Highly variable composition Consistent and reliable
Problematic form for use and storage Concentrated, stable forms
Restrictive (but necessary) regulations Well established regulatory framework
Scepticism among users Trusted
Readily available Energy intensive to productDiminishing availability
Low cost Expensive to buy
Project Plan
Work Package When
1 – Formulation of ash and digestate blended product Year 1
2 – Glasshouse trials; plant growth and soil activity Year 1
3 – Field trials Years 2 and 3
4 – Legislative requirements Throughout
Partners & Steering committee
Thank you
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/business/case-studies/land-conditioners-from-bio-energy-
residues/
