Basics

Manure fermentation, cofermentation with renewable resources or fermentation of waste materials?

Many conceptualised and already constructed facilities have shown that agricultural fermentation plants utilising manure and renewable resources, manure and organic waste or just organic waste can be built and run in an economically and ecologically sensible manner. When investigating the different options for the economically optimal concept it is necessary to take into account all concerns of fertiliser and waste legislation. For example:

- waste recycling and management law

- organic waste ordinance (German: Bioabfallverordnung, BioabfV)

- EU hygiene regulations (from 01.05.2003)

- sewage sludge regulations

- technical instructions concerning community waste

- fertilisation laws

- fertiliser decree

- regulations concerning fertilisers

Since 1999, it is legally possible to grow biomass on set-aside land with approval of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Nutrition without having to relinquish grants from the EU. In June 2003, the EU ministers for agriculture decided on a fundamental reform with a focus on sustainable agriculture in Europe. The commission suggests financial support of €45 per hectare for energy crops. The maximum guaranteed area of only 1,500,000 ha for the whole of the EU will be playing a negative part in this. In Germany, almost 1 million hectares of rape plants are currently being grown for the production of biodiesel. Therefore, there is an urgent necessity to act so as to make sensible use of resources and capacities available in agriculture.

The largest rye-growing areas of Germany can be found in the new Laender (eastern federal states), primarily in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Due to the discontinuation of EU subsidisation and the EU enlargement to the East, it is increasingly important to come up with new concepts for the preservation of these agricultural regions and local jobs. It is also imperative to focus on the utilisation of agricultural products both for energy and as raw materials as well as find alternatives for the younger generation, who can find interesting work in the field of bio-energy and renewable resources.

The shift towards stricter guidelines for the use of materials in the production of food (also for animals) and energy from biomass including from goods of low quality (e.g. from flooded areas) is an important factor in the attempt to increase the amount of gas harvested. Agriculture can thus gain another source of income and improve its economic stability via long term supply agreements.