Adding value to a classic circular economy play.

Farment augmented traditional anaerobic digestors to create higher quality fertilizers and biogas

The Opportunity

For years, farm waste such as plant material and manure has been processed through anaerobic digesters to create biogas and fertilizer. It’s the classic circular economy play. However, anaerobic digesters produce a waste stream (digestate) that has minimal value.  Farment has developed an innovative approach to the anaerobic digestion process that produces high value fertilizer and additional biogas, making it more economically appealing. 

The Challenge

Farment had already successfully proven that their unique technological approach could produce high quality fertilizer and additional biogas from the digestate. However, they needed to confirm that the solution would scale up for commercial anaerobic plants, increasing the economic benefit of adopting their technology, and maximizing the efficiency for anaerobic digester operators. 

NPC’s Solution

NPC provided Farment with $105,080 through the Proof of Concept Program to conduct a field trial with a biogas producer to convert digestate into high value fertilizer and additional biogas. Early results have provided valuable guidance on operating parameters such as feedstock age, and optimal pH and environmental conditions leading to the production of nutrient-dense biofertilizer and increased biogas output.