Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Centralized strategies for decentralized nitrogen recovery: A model for sustainable fertilizer supply chains
Ruben Vingerhoets1, Marc Spiller2, Siegfried E Vlaeminck2
1Ghent University, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, RE-SOURCE - Laboratory for Biobased Resource Recovery, 9000 Gent, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group of Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium; Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland.
Abstract:
This study explores how decentralized nitrogen (N) recovery can be aligned with centralized, uniform fertilizer production to enhance economic sustainability and support the European Union's (EU) Farm-to-Fork (F2F) strategy goals of reducing nutrient emissions by 50 % and fertilizer use by 20 %. Existing NH3 recovery technologies face adoption challenges, including inconsistent composition, liquid state, and high costs. Our mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model optimizes centralized processing, incorporating pretreatment/transport hubs and monitoring chemical changes. Scenario modelling highlights cost reductions, halving transport costs and reducing pretreatment costs by 43 %. Exploiting full N recovery in manure's liquid fraction increases revenue fivefold with operational costs rising only threefold, boosting net profit from €0.6M (€0.6 kg N-1) to €5.1M (€1.1 kg N-1). These findings demonstrate the economic feasibility of centralized NH3 processing and provide a scalable framework for improving nutrient circularity across different EU regions and meet EU's environmental targets.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
The Nitrogen Cycle
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
Key Elements for Plant Nutrition
Bioremediation
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms

