Biogas plants receive inputs of different sources of carbon, nutrients, metals and other pollutants from large areas that result in a digestate that is a very complex and concentrated matrix. How to redistribute all these components without causing imbalances in the receiving environments is one of the main questions that arises regarding the reuse of digestate. The main end destinations of digestate within the EU are agriculture, landfill and incineration, in addition to open-mine land reclamation. There are European and country specific end destinations of digestate that have been recently reviewed and made publicly available in an EU commission report. In terms of agricultural application, digestate is seen as a valuable source of carbon and nutrients, but its application is conditioned by disposal limits for nitrogen, phosphorous and metals. Here, we discuss the need for redesign of the process of digestate manipulation in order to increase its value as fertiliser, through addition of compounds, different solid/liquid phases separation or additional treatments. Potential recovery techniques are also discussed. Phytoremediation, the use of plants to uptake metals from different substrates, can be used not only to remove trace metals from the digestate but also for the recovery of metals from plant biomass or their reintroduction into the biodigester. In addition, a combination of landfill with phytoremediation can be a good alternative for the recovery of degraded soils, or for the reclamation of polluted soil for landscape recovery. Another option can be the use of digestate to produce biochar to be applied in agriculture, a technique that increases carbon content in soils while decreasing trace metal bioavailability. Finally, we discuss the new opportunities that are arising for the use of digestate, including microalgae biomass production and bioenergy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.