Disease suppression of potting mixes amended with composted biowaste

Peat mining destroys valuable nature areas and contributes to the greenhouse effect. This warrants the search for alternatives for peat in potting mixes. Composted biowaste could provide such an alternative. An additional advantage of (partially) replacing peat by compost is the increased disease suppressiveness. In this study, nine commercial composted biowastes were tested for disease suppressiveness using the pathosystems Pythium ultimum-cucumber, Phytophthora cinnamomi-lupin and Rhizoctonia solani-carrot. Increased disease suppression was found in compost-amended potting mixes for all three pathosystems. The level of disease suppression ranged from slight stimulation of disease to strong suppression. Suppressiveness against one disease was not well correlated with that against the other diseases. The CO2 production, a measure of general microbial activity, was the parameter most strongly correlated with the level of disease suppression. Wetsieving the biowaste with tap water over a 4-mm sieve prior to composting yielded a compost with an 2.4-fold increase in organic matter and a twofold decrease in EC and Cl--concentration of the compost. The latter reductions allow for an increase of the amount of peat that can be replaced by compost. A linear relation was found between the amount of compost added to the potting mix and the level of disease suppression indicating the potential for increasing disease suppressiveness of potting mixes by replacing peat by high-quality composted biowastes

Organic waste management studies : inventory in Juva

Two different organic waste management systems have been studied in the BERAS project. The most extensive study was of biowaste and nutrient flows in the community of Juva, Finland. The research methods used were waste flow and substance flow studies

Enhancing sustainable biowaste management in the UK: the role of the commercial and community composting sectors

This paper considers the different roles of the commercial and community composting sectors in contributing to sustainable biowaste management in the UK. Legislation and policy have driven the rapid development of a diverse composting sector. The next section sets out this policy context. This is followed with an analysis of the growth in, and characteristics of, the commercial composting sector and then the community composting sector. It is contended that both sectors have different strengths in contributing to sustainable biowaste management. For commercial composting this is based around large-scale composting and quality products, for the community sector this is based around services in difficult collection environments, local sustainability, promoting social cohesion and building stronger communities. The extent to which the benefits from the commercial and composting sectors will be realised in the future will depend on whether the sectors can develop synergistically and the extent to which this is encouraged by national and local policies

Sustainable recycling of compost products in plant production

In the research project "Sustainable recycling of compost products in plant production" we study and verify the effects of the use of biowaste and sewage sludge composts in plant production

A community-scale hybrid energy system integrating biomass for localised solid waste and renewable energy solution: Evaluations in UK and Bulgaria

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Growing pace of urban living is expected to simultaneously aggravate both the waste and the energy crises. This study presents feasibility assessment of a community scale hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) utilising biomass to serve the local energy needs while reducing the household solid waste volume. A modelling framework is presented and evaluated for a biomass HRES, comprising of a Wind turbine-PV Array-Biogas generator-Battery system, applied to two European cities - Gateshead (UK) and Sofia (Bulgaria) - accounting for their distinct domestic biowaste profiles, renewable resources and energy practices. Biogas generator is found to make the most substantial share of electricity generation (up to 60–65% of total), hence offering a stable community-scale basal electricity generation potential, alongside reduction in disposal costs of local solid waste. Net present cost for the biomass-integrated HRESs is found within 5% of each other, despite significant differences in the availability of solar and wind resources at the two sites. Based on a survey questionnaire targeting construction companies and energy solution developers, project costs and planning regulatory red tapes were identified as the two common implementation challenges in both the countries, with lack of awareness of HRES as a further limitation in Bulgaria, impeding wider uptake of this initiative

Towards a breakthrough in nutrient recycling : State-of-the-art and recommendations for developing policy instruments in Finland

The report has been complemented on 11.9.2018This report describes the state-of-the-art in phosphorus and nitrogen recycling in Finland and looks at basic data on the volumes and geographical distribution of biomasses and their nutrients. Based on this data, the report makes proposals for measures aiming to promote nutrient recycling. This report was prepared collaboratively by experts at the institutions making up the Finnish Partnership for Research on Natural Resources and the Environment (LYNET) to underpin a national action plan on nutrient recycling. Of all sectors in Finland, agriculture is the largest user and recycler of phosphorus and nitrogen. Different biomasses contain an annual total of approximately 26,000 t of recyclable phosphorus, which exceeds the fertilisation needs of grasslands and cereal crops in the entire area of Finland. The volume of nitrogen contained in biomasses is approximately 95,000 t. Still, approx. 11,000 t of phosphorus and 152,000 t of nitrogen are annually used in Finland as conventional inorganic fertilisers. There is a regional imbalance between manure production and crop nutrient requirements. The breakthrough in nutrient recycling means increased implementation of manure processing, thus making manure nutrients easier to transport and reducing the use of conventional inorganic fertilisers. At minimum 20% of the entire volume of manure generated in Finland will require advanced processing to enable long-distance transport of the manure phosphorus to areas in need of it. This requires separation of water. The highest demand for advanced processing is experienced in the regions of Ostrobothnia (approx. 60% at minimum), South Ostrobothnia and Satakunta (approx. 30 %) and Southwest Finland (13%). In the agricultural sector, fertilisation is currently guided by a wide array of different policy instruments, which make up an incoherent and unstructured whole. The instruments cause considerable amounts of regulatory burden, but appear to do little to promote sustainable nutrient recycling. This report proposes a total reform of the policy instruments to boost the recycling of nutrients. All legal standards related to fertilisation should be merged into a single statute, for example by developing the Nitrate Decree. At the same time, the current policy that controls nutrient use via the EU agri-environmental scheme should be abandoned, and the role of the environmental permit for livestock installations and its relationship with general regulatory instruments be clarified. A field plot specific nutrient database should be created to support guidance. The knowledge base of nutrient recycling should be developed by creating and maintaining a comprehensive data system on the quantities, properties and locations of nutrient-rich biomasses and ashes and their current processing methods. The report also proposes setting regional processing targets for livestock manure. Key objectives should include reducing excessive fertilisation in crop production. The goal of normative guidance should be nutrient use according to the crop needs.201

A study of resistojet systems directed to the space station/base Final report

Biowaste resistojet subsystem for integrated environmental control and life support of space statio

Resistojet systems studies directed to the space station/space base. Volume 2 - Biowaste resistojet system development program Final report

Space station/base biowaste resistojet system for orbit keeping and control moment gyro desaturation - systems developmen

A design study of hydrazine and biowaste resistojets

A generalized modeling program was adapted in BASIC on a personal computer to compare the performance of four types of biowaste resistojets and two types of hydrazine augmenters. Analyzed biowaste design types were: (1) an electrically conductive ceramic heater-exchanger of zirconia; (2) a truss heater of platinum in cross flow; (3) an immersed bicoiled tubular heater-exchanger; and (4) a nonexposed, refractory metal, radiant heater in a central cavity within a heat exchanger case. Concepts 2 and 3 are designed to have an efficient, stainless steel outer pressure case. The hydrazine design types are: (5) an immersed bicoil heater exchanger and (6) a nonexposed radiant heater now with a refractory metal case. The ceramic biowaste resistojet has the highest specific impulse growth potential at 2000 K of 192.5 (CO2) and 269 s (H2O). The bicoil produces the highest augmenter temperature of 1994 K for a 2073 K heater giving 317 s at .73 overall efficiency. Detailed temperature profiles of each of the designs are shown. The scaled layout drawings of each are presented with recommended materials and fabrication methods

Possibilities for developing combined recycling and renewable energy production in Juva and Järna

Two ways of local recycling of te solid fraction of biowaste, one of which is combined with the production of biogas, have been studied within the BERAS-project. On-farm biogas plant treatment in Juva could also support agriculture