An open project meeting was held online on 12.01.22. in the Sustainable Biogas project. The topic for the meeting was called Sustainable biogas in Latvia. Environmental risks in biogas plants. The goal of the meeting was to inform, but also to hear the ideas from the parties involved in biogas production.
Six speakers informed the audience about various topics. The project team presented the progress of the project; the results of the digestate analyses, how raw materials should be prepared for lower nutrient losses and polluting, and the best nutrient management practice in biogas plants that have been seen so far.
A Latvian State Environmental services representative, Dace Butenaite, gave a presentation on biogas plant environmental impact control, namely permits and inspections and what are the biggest offences in biogas plants. Gints Jakubovskis, a project manager from SIA Latvi Dan Agro informed the audience on their experiments with using sulphuric acid when spreading digestate on fields. And lastly, Kristine Vegere, a board member of Latvian Biogas Association, spoke about the future of biogas in Latvia, and how biomethane seems to be the key in sustainable production.
Small discussions with the participants happened after each presentation, which provided wider insights. The participants pointed out,e.g., that the rules for digestate shouldn’t be stricter than for manure, lagoon covers could be widely used, and that there are more options for upgrading biogas than biomethane alone, e.g., hydrogen.
A similar meeting will be held in spring in order to inform stakeholders on the coming guidelines and seek their opinion once again.
