New life for biowaste as
a sustainable soil improver

FENIX project in numbers

Project FENIX aims to develop a soil improver that combines by-products resulting from biogas production to achieve agronomic and economic returns, improving EU’s soil health securing an independent energy supply.

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Facilitating sustainable practices to the transition
towards healthy soils

Our ambition in line with Europe’s Soil mission

FENIX’s goal is to contribute to the recovery of abandoned poor soils for agriculure. Our objective is to increase the EU’s soil quality and water retention capacity. At the same time, we wish to contribute to climate change mitigation, ensuring a stable and independent energy supply, as well as promoting sustainable bio-waste management.

A soil amendment product

The beginning of a new
virtuous circle

The project aims to create a new closed value chain by formulating
a soil amendment product based on the revalorization of
2 by-products (biochar and digestates) obtained from the bio-waste management and processing (pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion).

This innovation will demonstrate the agricultural benefits and financial advantages of using the soil amendment in impoverished soils, simultaneously harnessing the synergies between agriculture and renewable gas production.

The benefits of a perfect union

Our recipe for healthy soils

Nutrients are fixed, improving water retention capacity
The mixture is blended with nutrients prior to application, providing immediate and sustained soil improvement.
The cost of digestate disposal is turned into a new revenue stream.
The process leads to a potential increase in biogas yield.
Storage and transport over long distances become more stable and easier.
Carbon is captured and sequestered (less GHG, ammonia volatilization, N2O).

The benefits of a perfect union

Our recipe for healthy soils

Nutrients are fixed, improving water retention capacity
The mixture is blended with nutrients prior to application, providing immediate and sustained soil improvement.
The cost of digestate disposal is turned into a new revenue stream.
The process leads to a potential increase in biogas yield.
Storage and transport over long distances become more stable and easier.
Carbon is captured and sequestered (less GHG, ammonia volatilization, N2O).

Assessing different soil improver combinations
in different crops at 5 European sites

After the production and evaluation of different soil improvers, we will develop a simulation tool
which will predict their environmental and agronomic impacts in the long term.

Subtropical

  • Spain

Olive grove

  • Spain

Abandoned

  • Spain

Cereal

  • France

Wheat Thermi
  • Greece

Assessing different soil improver combinations
in different crops at 5 European sites

After the production and evaluation of different soil improvers, we will develop a simulation tool which will predict their environmental and agronomic impacts in the long term.

Subtropical
Granada 

  • Spain

Olive grove
Jaen 

  • Spain

Abandoned Granada

  • Spain

Cereal
Marmagne

  • France

Wheat Thermi
Thessaloniki 
  • Greece

The expected outcomes

How FENIX plans to contribute to the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe

FENIX contributes to the EU Mission with distinct soil improvement products and through the creation of one integrated value chain encompassing biogas production and soil amendment manufacturing. Moreover, the project will introduce indirect services related to biomass and digestate preparation.

FENIX will improve soil quality during the first 3-5 years. In addition, it is expected to avoid 11% of GHG emissions in the long-term compared to not using the developed soil improver. To ensure this, it will develop and improve tools to monitor soil characteristics.

Adding biochar into the digestates will allow the FENIX project to enhance digestates stability, along with an increased capacity to retain water and preserve nutrients, avoiding its degradation during its transportation and storage time. Thus, leading to efficiently recover nutrients from bio-waste to be applied into the soil. FENIX product is expected to increase nutrient recovery in between 1,5 to 2 times the amount of unenriched biochar products in the long-term.

FENIX will indirectly contribute to increase the demand on bio-waste for high value soil amendment production (biochar and digestates) and therefore decrease the amount of waste landfilled by defining new and more profitable value chains (including production of renewable energy such as syngas and biomethane).

FENIX will promote collaboration between corporate entities (including SMEs, start-ups, hubs and entrepreneurs) associated with the production of soil improvers from residual resources and bio-waste.

The work plan to meet the project’s objectives

A puzzle made up of 8 work packages requiring close
collaboration between soil science and biogas experts

WP1 | Preparation and selection of soil improver substrates for laboratory tests

The first part of the process involves the production and characterization of biochar. Specifically, a series of 36 biochars will be selected from representative green waste of the city of Bourges (France).

WP2 | Laboratory tests of soil improver mixtures

As a second step, the most appropriate biochar-digestate mixture and dose will be characterized and formulated for each soil type. Then, the benefits of the soil improver formulas will be tested at lab scale.

WP3 | Production of the soil improvement product at pilot scale

The third work package includes the
large-scale production of selected
biochar in WP1.

WP4 | Field demonstration of safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the soil improver in different arable lands in southern with various soil types.

During this stage, field experiments and modelling approaches will be carried out in order to monitor and quantify the short and long-term benefits of the soil improver. The product will be used in contrasting soil types and climatic conditions.

WP5 | Regulatory, IP, and business strategy; impact monitoring

At WP5, our project will be replicated across the agricultural sector in the EU, ensuring regulatory compliance. This part of the process will evaluate voluntary labelling and ensure market uptake of the technology and products. Ultimately, it will quantify and monitor the project’s impacts.

WP6 | WP6 Communication and Dissemination

By disseminating knowledge generated throughout the project, WP 6 seeks to maximise the future use and impact of the FENIX project.

WP7 | Project Management

The purpose of this work package is to establish effective and ethical project management that encompasses financial and technical aspects, monitoring and adjusting the implementation plan if necessary.

WP8 | Ethics requirements

The last section is dedicated to ensuring compliance with the ethics requirements set out in the project.