The Institute of Sustainable Processes (ISP) is part of GREENFARM, a “proof-of-concept” project by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, whose main goal is to produce fertilizers and pesticides from the treatment of livestock waste. The project involves researchers José María Fernández-Sevilla and Francisco Gabriel Acién from the University of Almería (UAL); and Silvia Bolado, Rubén Irusta Mata, Pedro García Encina, Marisol Vega, Elena M. Rojo, and other members of the Institute of Sustainable Processes at the University of Valladolid (UVa).
This project aims to give a second life to the waste of pig farms, a growing sector in the European Union, which is the second world producer of pork, and that generates a large amount of waste. In this sense, GREENFARM uses a process that consists in the valorization of algal biomass obtained from livestock slurry to obtain fertilizers and pesticides useful in agriculture after the treatment process of livestock waste.
This system is a sustainable alternative, with less environmental impact and also economically more feasible. Previous results have demonstrated the viability of fertilizer production from algal biomass grown in slurry, reaching lower annual costs compared to a commercial fertilizer (reductions of 40.5%, 22.6% and 43.3% respectively).
