As a first step, regional hubs will be set up to analyse local framework conditions and value chains in livestock production and help local stakeholders to jointly develop our approach. Next, the business and technical capacity of selected livestock farmers is enhanced through financial, business and technical services and by organising seminars.
At the same time, ALFA is developing a so-called Engagement Platform with tools that facilitate cooperation and knowledge exchange between actors in the sector and provide realistic estimates of each farm’s biogas potential, expected profit and environmental and social impact.
Social acceptance
Furthermore, ALFA aims to improve social acceptance of biogas plants among citizens by at least 25% through awareness-raising campaigns. By formulating and disseminating policy recommendations to decision-makers, a favourable environment is simultaneously developed for biogas market introduction.
The performance and impact of all these efforts will be monitored and evaluated so that different regions can learn from each other. In addition, a guide will be drawn up so that the results achieved can be replicated by others in the future.
ALFA expects to generate a capacity of 30 MW with the supported projects, which will lead to an increased use of renewable energy in the participating countries and savings of 270 ktonnes of CO2 and 330 ktonnes of CO2-eq per year.
The project will run for three years, from November 2022 to October 2025. Participating farmers come from Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Slovakia, Greece and Spain. The European Commission’s European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) is supporting the project with nearly €2 million from the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation.
More information can be found on the website of project leader Q-Plan International (Greece).
Image: ShDrohnenFly/Shutterstock
