EU-funded researchers develop green organic fertilizer from animal bones

European Union (EU)-funded researchers have developed a zero-emission method of recycling organic phosphorous fertilizer from animal bones, said a press release from the European Commission on Monday.

The research aims to help farmers cut down on the use of chemicals, saving them money and making food production safer and greener, said the press release.

In Europe, the natural cycles of phosphorus and nitrogen have been disrupted by years of intensive farming practices and human activities. Industrial agriculture has often used mineral-based fertilizers to put these compounds back in the soil. The problem with this system is that such fertilizers can contain high levels of cadmium and uranium, which pose a threat to human health.

As a solution, the EU-funded REFERTIL project, which ends this month, developed an environmentally-friendly, industrial-scale method of producing an organic phosphorus fertilizer known as animal bone biochar.

Researchers believe that the resulting end product could be an effective substitute for phosphate mineral fertilizers and chemicals currently used in food crop production.

Biochar is made from different types of plant and animal by-products produced anaerobically under low temperature conditions.

The project has successfully achieved zero-emission processing at the industrial scale, where all material element streams are recycled and reused into natural and safe products.

"We have so far been able to scale up the industrial process to produce a throughput of 20,000 tons a year," said project coordinator Edward Someus, a biochar science and technology engineer with Terra Humana in Sweden.

"These new REFERTIL-based organic fertilizers will be safe premium products at low and affordable costs. Zero-emission performance biochar production will also not compete with human food, animal feed and plant nutrition production and supply; a new bio-economy will be generated," added Someus. Endit