Combined soil carbon sequestration and crop nutrient supply using thermal conversion technology residuals

Mitigation of CO2 to reduce the impact of climate change requires immediate action and the involvement of several measures. However, technologies for combined energy production and residual recycling of crop nutrients and recalcitrant carbon to soils have only been developed to a limited degree. Likewise, business concepts including both energy and fertilizer production are still scarce even though countries, companies and consumers show increasing interest in intelligent whole system solutions for improved utilization of a range of biomass and waste streams.
Thermal conversion technologies are adapted to a wide range of biomass feedstocks, which do not only provide energy with high efficiency but also a valuable ash residual. The focus on ash quality and applicability has, however, been limited so far.
The overall hypothesis of the project is that the ash fraction resulting from thermal conversion can be developed into an attractive soil amendment for agricultural purposes. Blending ashes from different thermal conversion processes can furthermore be a tool to obtain a final product that provides the optimal amount of plant nutrients in an available form. Information about the fertilizer value acquired through the project will encourage the end-users (farmers) to take advantage of integrating such products into their fertilization strategies to maintain soil quality and reduce climate change impacts. In that way, the project will open a new venue for innovative energy and environmental technologies with promising new business opportunities.