The Netherlands has been arguing for 15 years to get mineral concentrate from animal manure approved as a fertiliser substitute. This is produced by performing reverse osmosis on animal slurry. Another alternative is digestate, a by-product of the (co-)fermentation of manure in biogas installations. Recently, biochar from pyrolysis and gasification of biomass has also been allowed as a fertiliser in the EU.
The EC is currently looking for innovative alternatives to artificial fertilisers, which are currently very expensive, partly because they require a lot of natural gas for production. Forty per cent of Europe’s fertiliser production has already ceased as a result, which is further pushing up prices. As a result, the production costs of food are also rising, causing an upward spiral of inflation.
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