Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
(N/A)
LINCOLN,NE 68583
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The planned conference, the main goal of this project is dedicated to tackling the urgent global challenge of meeting fertilizer demand while addressing issues of production sustainability and potential shortages. Our primary focus is on fostering innovation through the circular processing of agricultural residues, aiming to recover and repurpose valuable nutrients. By doing so, we aim to bridge the gap between technological advancements in fertilizer production and the essential development of supportive institutional frameworks necessary for the widespread adoption of alternative sources and techniques. This event will serve as a collaborative platform, bringing together experts from diverse disciplines to engage in comprehensive discussions on the prospects and applications of nutrient recovery. Additionally, we will delve into the engineering of novel fertilizer technologies, tackling environmental contamination concerns, and conducting rigorous risk assessments. Through a combination of presentations, interactive discussion groups, and insightful field visits, participants will have the opportunity to explore both the opportunities and challenges inherent in transitioning from mineral-based to waste-derived fertilizers.
Animal Health Component
70%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
70%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
One of the United Nations' sustainable development goals is to achieve food security while transitioning into sustainable agriculture. The recent focus on the global phosphorus shortage highlights the urgent need for creative solutions to harness and recycle these nutrients. There is growing interest in developing sustainable strategies to do this, however successful on-the-ground implementation will require close collaboration between the engineers and scientists designing new sustainable residue-based fertilizer products, and the policy makers designing the new institutional, economic, and legal frameworks required for adoption. This workshop is structured to catalyze long-term professional working relationships between technical and policy experts needed to implement transformative agricultural innovations.Conceptually, feedstocks that already combine activated nitrogen ammonium or nitrate with carbon sources, such as aqueous solution dissolved equilibrium partitioned CO2 or organic carbon, can be found among all of the biogenic activity end products, including animal manure, food waste of municipal solid waste (MSW), agricultural and forestry residues and municipal sewage sludge. Chemical conversion of such waste into solid, high N content fertilizer materials has the potential for impactful circularity if sustainable chemistry and engineering can tap into this widely available source to substitute for mineral fertilizers, thus potentially decoupling N and C cycle that overlap in NH3 production.The proposed conference will bring together a mix of engineers, agricultural scientists and practitioners together with stakeholders, such as farmers or biogas producers, as well as mineral and organic fertilizer producers to discuss the potential and implications of opportunities, challenges, timeline of transitioning, partially or fully, from mineral derived fertilizers to waste derived fertilizers.Specific objectives: Address and further advance on research of the following topics:Prospects and applications on nutrients recovery.Engineering and new fertilizer technologies.Environmental contamination and mineral nutrition status.Risk assessment and microbiology.
Project Methods
This project isjointly sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and will bring together scientists from US and various other OECD countries to discuss with industry personnel, producers, and policy makers for fertilizer production from wastes and also examine the current methods of fertilizer production from mineral sources. This three-day conference will also provide an opportunity for field visits to a very large agricultural fair where the participants will be able to interact with traditional fertilizer makers, small (startup included) companies focusing on alternative fertilizer sources, and those companies that are making microbial additives for traditional fertilizers to reduce losses and enhance utilization efficiency. The conference will have a mixture of platform talks on research, panel discussions, and small group discussions focusing on prospects and applications of nutrient recovery, engineering new fertilizer technologies, environmental contamination and mineral nutrients, and risk assessment and microbiology.