Ash4Soil

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Problems and opportunities

In Spain, around 40% of soils are acidic, and their productive potential is reduced due to their low pH. These soils require liming, complemented by the addition of fertilizers that provide nutrients that are insufficient to meet the crops’ needs (mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).

The liming materials used in Spain primarily come from quarries in the eastern and southern parts of the peninsula (Tarragona, Barcelona, Almería), whose activities have a significant environmental impact and require a considerable consumption of non-renewable energy sources to transport them to areas with acidic pH, such as Extremadura, Castilla y León, and Galicia. The transportation of these materials generates considerable environmental costs that could be addressed by using calcium-rich by-products available locally, such as ash. This by-product, widely available in Galicia, could be used as a liming material, achieving its valorization, reducing the costs and emissions associated with transporting liming materials, and developing a new business model based on a product derived from biomass, thus fulfilling the objectives of the European circular economy strategy and bioeconomy.

In this context, the Ash4Soil operational group was created, aiming to evaluate the benefits in agricultural and forestry performance by using an amendment-fertilizer (Ash4Soil) for acidic soils, made from ash derived from the combustion of forest by-products in combination with a high-quality organic fertilizer made from manure obtained from livestock farms in Galicia, Extremadura, and Castilla y León.

The development of the Ash4Soil project represents the following opportunities:

  • Use of forest by-products

    Galicia, after the Nordic countries, is the region with the largest forested area in Europe. This resource has led to a thriving business model associated with the burning of waste from logging (thinning or final cuts), which generates a large volume of ash (20,000 tons per year). Despite its potential value as an amendment, this ash is currently being sent to landfills.

  • Valorization of livestock waste

    The importance of the livestock sector in the regions participating in the Ash4Soil project means that the volume of manure and poultry litter generated in these areas is very high, leading to the associated environmental problems.

  • Reduction of the economic and environmental cost of amendments and fertilizers

    The high economic and environmental cost associated with the transportation of amendments and fertilizers, along with the significant consumption of renewable energy linked to the synthesis of nitrogen-based fertilizers and the depletion of mineral phosphorus reserves, makes it necessary to develop strategies based on the circular economy. These strategies would allow for the recycling of nutrients from organic sources, such as ash from forest biomass or manure and slurry from livestock farming.

Ash4Soil aims to promote the reuse of livestock waste and forest by-products as raw materials, fostering the circular economy and bioeconomy while promoting the sustainable use of resources. Furthermore, the Ash4Soil amendment-fertilizer is designed to be easy to transport, handle, and apply, with an improving capacity for the soil that provides commercial performance. In doing so, it contributes to job creation and increased competitiveness in the agroforestry sector, supporting a cleaner Europe from an environmental perspective and reducing its dependence on raw materials.