BioKum has reached another milestone, compiling a catalog of bioeconomic innovations and options to reduce nitrogen inputs and greenhouse gases. At present, 81 specific options have been included that intervene in management at farm level as well as in inter- or extra-farm level, and can thus have a positive and direct or indirect influence on the nutrient flows. The extensive collection is to be continuously expanded over the course of the project.
In addition to more technical solutions to reduce emissions or management options such as various application techniques, field robots, plant monitoring using drones or satellites to determine nitrogen requirements, social innovations such as community-supported agriculture have also been included. The production of algae and insects as animal feed, optimized biogas reactors or the recovery of nutrients from manure should also be mentioned as promising bioeconomic solutions.
The compilation illustrates that manure should not only be thought of as fertilizer. The bioeconomy holds a multitude of promising innovations for reducing excessive emissions and nutrient inputs from agriculture. However, it is still unclear to what extent the integration of such innovations will be sustainable. These questions still need to be clarified within the junior research group.