At least 50 livestock farmers from 6 European countries have joined the European project ALFA, which was launched this month. The project aims to establish viable systems for the production of biogas from animal manure.
As a first step, regional hubs are being established that analyze the local preconditions and value chains in livestock farming and help local stakeholders to jointly develop our approach. The business and technical capacity of selected livestock farmers is then increased through financial, business and technical services and by organizing seminars.
At the same time, ALFA is developing a so-called Engagement Platform with tools that simplify collaboration and knowledge exchange between actors in the sector and that provide realistic estimates of the biogas potential, expected profits and environmental and social impact of each company.
Social acceptance
Furthermore, ALFA wants to improve the social acceptance of biogas plants among citizens by at least 25% through awareness campaigns. By formulating and disseminating policy recommendations to policymakers, a favorable environment is simultaneously developed for the market introduction of biogas.
The performance and impact of all these efforts are monitored and evaluated so that different regions can learn from each other. In addition, a guide is 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 greater use of renewable energy in the participating countries and a saving of 270 kilotons of CO2 and 330 kilotons of CO2-eq per year.
The project will run for three years, from November 2022 to October 2025. The participating farmers come from Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Slovakia, Greece and Spain. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) of the European Commission is supporting the project with almost €2 million from the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
More information can be found on the website of Q-Plan International (Greece).
Source: biobased economy
