A project between Icelandic Landeldi, which runs land-based salmon farming group The Deep Atlantic Project, and other Icelandic, Norwegian and Faroese companies has received a €6.3 million ($6.8 million) grant from the European Union for turning aquaculture waste into fertilizer and biogas.
Called Terraforming LIFE, it is the first project grant for a primarily Icelandic consortium, according to the companies.
The participating companies include the Icelandic Farmers' Association, food production and biotechnology group Orkidea, as well as engineering consultancy SMJ from the Faroe Islands and Blue Ocean Technology from Norway.
The project is designed to develop a new method to produce fertilizer and biogas from organic waste produced from land-based aquaculture and agriculture.
This will be done through sludge treatment and pyrolysis technology, a system which also enables efficient carbon capture. Pyrolysis, the heating of an organic material in the absence of oxygen, is the only established and recognized method for carbon negative effects.
"The products will improve the environmental impact of aquaculture by producing not only fertilizer, but also carbon-neutral fuel, electricity and heat," Runar Thor Thorarinsson, Landeldi project coordinator, said.
The project starts in June 2023 and will last four years.
