ANAEROBIC DIGESTION POTENTIAL TO REDUCE LIVESTOCK WASTE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: A CASE STUDY IN BASILICATA REGION (ITALY)

In recent years, following the European regulations on the production of electricity and heat from biogas, some initiatives aimed to create anaerobic digestion plants using agricultural and livestock wastes are increasing. There are many advantages associated with the production of biogas, among those the decrease of environmental pollution due to animal wastes and the reduction of odours associated with them. Then from anaerobic treatment of waste derives digested biomass that could be directly used for fertilization. In this paper authors show the results, in terms of energy production, deriving from the exploitation of cattle, pig and dairy waste in a biogas production plant. The case study consider about 5220 livestock units for a daily production of about 75 m3 of manure, 139 m3 of sewage and 7.1 m3 of whey. Results show that from biogas is possible to obtain a daily electrical power equal to 12,872 kWh. Digestate from biogas plants is rich in plant nutrients and has excellent fertiliser qualities so it could be used as a sustainable alternative to mineral fertilisers.