Biogas digestate is increasingly used in organic farming to improve soil fertility and crop yields, but it can also cause environmentally relevant N₂O emissions. A four-year field study in southern Germany (2019–2022) tested how digestate affects winter wheat yield, nitrogen efficiency, and N₂O-N emissions. Digestate application strongly increased yields, though long-term fertilized plots performed better than newly treated ones. The highest N₂O emissions occurred in long-term fertilized plots, but surprisingly high emissions also appeared in winter in unfertilized plots. Overall, the study shows that N₂O emissions are influenced not only by fertilization but also by tillage, post-harvest practices, previous crops, and weather conditions.
Effects-of-Biogas-Digestate-on-Winter-Wheat-Yield-Nitrogean-Balance-and-Nitrous-Oxide-Emiss.pdf
Paper
Written by Maria Dodou
Dr. Maria Zachariou-Dodou is civil and public health engineer, with MSc degree from University College London and PhD in Chemical Engineering from NTUA in the field of wastewater treatment and reuse. She has 40-year experience in working both in the public sector in Cyprus, as well as in the private sector in a large number of countries with emphasis on water resources management, water treatment and reuse, and desalination processes. She has a great experience in designing and implementing EU funded projects mostly dealing with providing innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
You May Also Like