Best Practice from Wiggert farm in Löffingen

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Did you know that a farm can be operated in a way that actually extracts CO2 from the atmosphere instead of causing it? Let us introduce you to the “Haslachhof farm” in Germany! The farm is operated by Wolfram Wiggert who combines smart choices in crops with energy from biomass and eco-friendly measures that involves the local stakeholders.

In 2003, Wiggert converted his farm to sustainable operation and thus had to face new challenges. In order to implement the shift to ecological farming, he had to include alfalfa-clover-grass in the crop rotation of his farm located in Löffingen, Germany. Since this plant mix does not yield sufficient revenues, Wiggert searched for solutions that matched his ecological approach to farming. The construction of the biogas plant was the logical consequence for the “Haslachhof farm” in 2006. Not only did it fit into the sustainable concept of his farm, it also extended it by producing organic fertiliser for the entire farm from the digestate. Thereby, a closed cycle economy was achieved in which the building of humus and storing of CO2 is enabled with a humus content of 4-8% on the arable land. Next to electricity, the biogas plant produces heat that is used 100% year round. While in summer the local heating network is fed with approx. 400 kW, the demand is higher in winter, so that the biogas plant is run according to the seasons. The plant with a rated output of 500 kW has been expanded in two steps to 2,500 kW. 70% of the input consists of alfalfa-clover-grass and cattle dung from the farm. The aim is to increase the input of these substrates to 100%. In total, the CO2 balance of our biogas plant is even positive with -16g CO2 per kWhel!

Included in this outstanding integral concept centered around the biogas plant, Wiggert is running a wood energy plant of about 500kW that is fed with wood chips stemming from regional forestry residues. Moreover, Wiggert has recently started to introduce what might be translated to “blossom sponsorships”. The idea is to have local enterprises sponsor areas on the farm where flowers are planted that not only provide a habitat for insects and small animals, but also help the soil recover and rebuild humus. While this project is implemented on a small part of his land, it is the overall goal of the “Haslachhof farm” to achieve an operation that aims to increase biodiversity on large scale, such as introducing blooming shares in the alfalfa-clover-grass part of the crop rotation.

For his efforts and achievements with regard to sustainability, Wiggert won the CeresAward “Energy farmer of the year 2019”. Right on!

Photos copyright of Timo Jaworr/Wolfram Wiggert.

About the campaign

The campaign is powered by Bioenergy Europe and relayed across Europe by both national and international partners supporting the belief that bioenergy is more than a renewable energy source, it is also a reliable path that will lead Europe to achieve its renewable energy transition in the shortest span of time.

Solid Biomass Conversion Processes

Logging, grinding, screening and drying operations are mechanical processes for enhancing solid biomass fuels. These operations help transform biomass into homogeneous fuel that is easy to handle, with a higher energy recovery (eg. woodchips, wood logs, agrofuel). In general, moisture content in woodchips used for energy generation in municipal or industrial plants ranges between 20-30%.

Densification is another popular way to transform woody material into an advanced fuel with high calorific value. This process involves compressing biomass and lowering moisture levels to a range of 8-10%, allowing for an homogenous fuel – either in the form of pellets or briquettes. The heat during compression fuses the lignin in the biomass, naturally binding the biomass together in a new, enhanced shape. Thanks to densification, the homogenous biomass fuel is easier to transport and can be used in automated biomass installations, such as pellet stoves and boilers.

Thermo-chemical conversions are now used to produce fuel with even higher calorific value, utilising torrefaction or steam explosion technologies. During the torrefaction process, wood is subjected to temperatures of 230°C-300°C at atmospheric pressure without oxygen. Comparable to some extent to coffee torrefaction, this method creates a fuel with unique characteristics. As compared to conventional wood, torrefied wood has very low (>5%) moisture content, is easily grindable and is relatively hydrophobic.

Thanks to advanced technologies, woody biomass can also produce liquid and gaseous fuels. Pyrolysis, for instance, is a thermal-chemical conversion that requires a high temperature (>400°C) and little oxygen to convert solid biomass into gas, liquid fuels (pyrolysis oil) and/or biochar. Gasification is another thermo-chemical conversion that takes place at high temperatures (>800°C), with limited oxygen and/or steam, and converts solid biomass into synthesis gas, known as syngas – which contains carbon and hydrogen and can be used to produce liquid fuels such as biodiesel.

Wet Biomass Conversion Processes

Wet biomass is present in high volume across Europe (manure, agricultural waste and by-products). As it contains too much moisture to be converted efficiently into energy via a direct combustion process, other conversion pathways and energy outputs have been developed by the biogas (eg. anaerobic digestion) and biofuel sectors (eg. fermentation). Anaerobic digestion and fermentation are the two main conversion pathways used for converting wet biomass feedstock into advanced fuel.

Anaerobic digestion is the microbiological process of decomposition of organic matter, in the absence of oxygen, and is common to many natural environments; it is largely applied today in order to produce biogas in airproof reactor tanks, commonly referred to as digesters. A wide range of micro-organisms are involved in the anaerobic process which has two main end products: biogas and digestate. Biogas is a combustible gas consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases and trace elements. Biogas can be used in direct combustion to produce heat, but also power if converted within a cogeneration plant or in adapted gas motors. Biogas can also be upgraded via purification processes to a biomethane that can be injected into the existing natural gas networks, used as a chemical product and/or vehicle fuel. Digestate is the decomposed substrate, rich in macro- and micro-nutrients and therefore suitable for use as plant fertiliser.

Fermentation is a biochemical conversion whereby microorganisms, including yeast and bacteria, convert matter into products such as ethanol and liquid transport fuel (biodiesel). This process is done in several stages. First, sugary and starchy feedstock such as corn must be crushed and combined with water, allowing enzymes to convert this starch into sugar. This ferments along with the addition of yeast and is distilled into bioethanol. Bioethanol can also be produced from cellulosic biomass, such as grass, wood and stalks, via fermentation; however, this process is more complex and involves a mechanical pre-treatment and the addition of enzymes, or the breakdown of the lignocellulose into sugar through hydrolysis, followed by the same procedure.

Solid bioenergy feedstock

Renewables represent 8,0% of EU-27 total energy consumption (22.473 kilotonnes of oil equivalent) in transportation, of which 68% is provided by biofuels in 2018. It is rather challenging to foresee how biofuels (in particular first-generation biofuels) will continue to develop, since recent EU legislation established a quota for these biofuels. EU statistics on renewables in transportation can also be misleading regarding the actual level of production, because multiple counting rules are applied in accordance with the EU renewable energy directive. Looking at it in more detail, the biofuel market is driven by biodiesel and bioethanol. Biodiesel was the first biofuel developed and used in the EU in the transport sector in the 1990s. EU-27 remains the world’s largest biodiesel producer and it consumed 13,303 Ktoe in 2018. By comparison, bioethanol consumption in 2018 reached 2,620 Ktoe for an actual production of 2,365 Ktoe (Biofuels Report, 2020).

Bioenergy comes in all shapes and sizes

Within our close environment, a great source of organic materials such as plants, algae, or organic wastes, can be valuable fuels as soon as a technology makes it possible to efficiently extract all of its energy potential. Bioenergy players traditionally refer to biomass to describe those usable feedstocks. Biomass currently used in Europe includes wood from forests, agricultural crops and residues, by-products from the wood and agricultural industry, herbaceous and woody energy crops, municipal organic wastes and manure, and could potentially integrate algae and marine biomass in the future.

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