Nutrient Platforms
http://link2energy.co.uk/growing-the-uk-nutrient-platform
The second “UK Nutrient Platform” event was held at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London on
the 29th April, attended by delegates from a range of industries as well as Government agencies,
farming bodies and research partners.
Tim Evans FWR & TIM EVANS ENVIRONMENT
Growing The UK Nutrient Platform• Introduction and Welcome - Andy Ross (Leeds University / Biorefine) Malcolm
Bailey (Link2Energy)
• Spatial mapping of Nutrients in the UK - Cynthia Carliell-Marquet (Birmingham University) Miller Camargo-Valero (Leeds University)
• Phosphorus Stewardship & Freshwater Eutrophication—Simon Leaf (Environment Agency)
• Routes To Market For Recovered Nutrients - Kim ten Wolde (ICL Group)
• Bringing Innovation to Market - Tristan Eagling (BioScience KTN)
• Roadmapping and Supply Chain Development - Lucinda Tolhurst (Lucid Insight)
• Sustainable Innovations And The Role of a Nutrient Platform - Arnoud Passenier(ESPP President and Netherlands Environment and Infrastructure Ministry)
• The Shape of the UK Nutrient Platform: Facilitated round table discussion
• Question 1 - What do you want the UK Nutrient Platform to deliver?
• The Shape of the UK Nutrient Platform: Facilitated round table discussion
• Question 2 - What is the best organizational structure to achieve this?
AIM: To establish a cross-sector UK Nutrient Platform for all stakeholders with interests in sustainable nutrient use and recycling, nutrient management and security and environmental impact.
Earth System boundaries
green - human activities that are within safe margins,
yellow - human activities that may or may not have exceeded safe margins,
red - human activities that have exceeded safe margins,
grey + red ? - human activities for which safe margins have not yet been determined.
Rockström et al. 2009 and Steffen et al. 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries
UK P imports and exports in 2009Cynthia Carliell‐Marquet & James Cooper, University of Birmingham
P into UK agriculture (2009)
20
09
Spatial mapping of N – N-cycle is out of balanceMiller Alonso Camargo-Valero water@leeds
• 2010 UK farming used 1,021 kt N-fertiliser• 58% is imported = 592 kt• UK domestic sewage N equiv 300 kt N-
fertiliser
algal blooms off Cornwall: NASA
UK P in wastewater 2009Cynthia Carliell‐Marquet & James Cooper, University of Birmingham
Dosing potable water4% of 138 ktP/y = 5.5 ktP/y
Blown in place epoxy liming would eliminate the need for P dosing and close small leaks
P stewardship and freshwater eutrophicationSimon Leaf, Senior Advisor, Water Quality Planning, EA
• We’ve done well but not well enough
• P still the most common target failed (TE is the target right?)
Good progress since 1990 in reducing P in rivers- percentage of river length in England with v low and v high P concentrations
Figure 1 Reasons for not achieving Water Framework Directive "good status" credit Ian Barker
Routes to market for recovered nutrients in the mineral fertilizer industry
Kim ten Wolde, ICL Fertilizers
• Sweden – commitment in 2005 to recycle 60% of P in wastewater by 2015
• Dutch Nutrient Platform –January 2011• In 2011 ICL and the Dutch Authorities agreed on a covenant
to replace 15% rock-P by 2015 and up to a 100% in 2025
• Flemish Nutrient Platform –November 2012
• European Sustainable Phosphate Platform –March 2013
• German Phosphate Platform –November 2013
• UK Nutrient Platform – ?
How ICL sees alternatives to rock-P
P available but MgNH4PO4.6H2O water could be problem for granulation - reputational
P not available – more difficult to process than rock-P - reputational
ICL – compatibility for processing
Sustainable innovations and the role of a Nutrient PlatformArnoud Passenier – President of European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform and NL
Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment – Director Sustainable Innovations
• North Sea Roundabout – EoW - BE, DE, NL, NL, possibly FR
• Platforms are able to achieve ...
• Networks ....• are stronger than structures
• are less vulnerable than government/industry alike
• can raise awareness effectively about the need to become more efficient & effective in our nutrient use
• are influential because the community shares values, visions, knowledge and experiences
• can be extremely communicative by celebrating every single success in each others networks
• The Dutch had several problems:• a densely populated and highly productive country with a lot of
wastage: waste(water), animal manure and other organic waste• very detailed regulations which make it difficult for business to
innovate.
• We started to think differently:• Scarcity of food, water, energy and nutrients in the world:
waste has a value!• (Sustainable) innovations start with ambitions and drivers of the
individual entrepreneur• Chance driven approaches much more inspiring, also for politicians…
Why invest in (UK & European) platforms?• ESPP and the UK platform should work together to achieve:
• Acceleration of sustainable innovations, cross-sectoral connections in agriculture, chemistry and water
• Maximum influence on regulatory bodies to give room for those innovations
• Knowledge development & dissemination, joint projects• More (public) awareness about the innovative power of the members
of the platforms (image)• National challenges different, UK platform should use own
competences/synergies and optimize participation in and benefits from EU projects
Outcomespresentations at http://link2energy.co.uk/growing-the-uk-nutrient-platform
• All agreed it’s important
• Focus was on P (we are 5x planetary boundary) and little on fixed reactive N (6x planetary boundary)
• Oslo has been recovering NH3 for +15 years but air-stripping + acid-scrubbing = low value product at high Opex
• Osaka (Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha) steam-strips since 2004 = high value product (NH3 solution for NOx control) at Opex ≈Sharon
• http://tinyurl.com/qf6q2tm http://tinyurl.com/pnbgy8a
• Did not resolve how to fund a platform
• Leeds and ESPP might be able to take it a bit further through BIOREFINE but it needs funds and champion
