ReBALAN:CE - Recycling Biomass to Agricultural LANd: Capitalizing on Eutrophication

ReBALAN:CE - 将生物质回收到农业用地：利用富营养化

• 批准号: NE/K015710/1
• 负责人: David Oliver
• 金额: $ 7.84万
• 依托单位: University of Stirling
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FK015710%2F1
• 关键词: ReBALAN; CE; Recycling; Biomass; Agricultural

This project will bring together an interdisciplinary team of experts from across academic, policy and stakeholder organisations in order to prioritise and plan a response to the pressing science needs associated with resource recovery from waste. Specifically, the project will explore nutrient recovery from excessive aquatic plant and algal biomass production in nutrient enriched waters (e.g. ponds, constructed farm wetlands, sustainable urban drainage systems and natural waterbodies) and, crucially, will integrate economic, social, environmental and health-related dimensions that cut across traditional academic disciplines. Thus, the overall aim of this project is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge across the disciplinary boundaries of biology, geography, soil and water science, microbiology, human behaviour, risk perception, waste management, economics and catchment management. In turn, we will develop a comprehensive, holistic and targeted programme of research to 'close the loop' on nutrient transfer from land to water. This will be underpinned by understanding and quantifying the risks, opportunities and multiple benefits of recycling excessive aquatic plant and algal biomass back to agricultural land. The project will therefore contribute to a paradigm shift in current conceptualisation of 'waste' management to redress the current imbalance of focus on economic benefits of recovering resources from waste. In a wider context, effective and sustainable waste management must take account of the often unquantified and uncertain trade-offs for managing wastes across the environment. For example, recovering nutrients from aquatic plant and algal biomass makes economic sense because fertiliser costs are soaring due to shortages in mineral supply; however, this is only one part of a complex socio-economic-ecological system. We need to couple economics with the safeguarding of human health and protection of key ecosystem services, such as the provision of clean and safe recreational and drinking water, and appreciate the social and political barriers that may hinder or promote efficient nutrient recovery from this 'waste' by-product. While we know that anthropogenic inputs of nutrients to aquatic systems can be assimilated in aquatic biomass we have little knowledge on how pathogens and toxins may be recycled through agroecosystems following reapplication of this biomass to land, and poor understanding of nitrogen and phosphorus release rates from non-composted and composted biomass. Furthermore, the potential role for aquatic plant and algal biomass to be made into biochar (charcoal) as a novel approach to re-cycle nutrients and store carbon in soil (to offset emissions of carbon dioxide) is another dimension of resource recovery from waste by-products that might deliver multiple benefits and ecosystem services for wider society. There are a number of additional policy related dimensions to debate including whether there is an issue surrounding the classification of recycled biomass as non-waste in terms of regulation and licensing. Our team is well equipped with the expertise to develop core work-packages needed for a well balanced research agenda in recycling biomass to agricultural land.The project team are therefore tasked with framing some important emerging questions that will need innovative science and integrated solutions for 2020 and beyond. By pooling the cross-disciplinary expertise assembled in this catalyst grant we will identify where improvements in fundamental understanding are necessary to deliver step changes in 'waste' management for environmental benefits and help refine regulatory policy and practice to support this.

该项目将汇集来自学术、政策和利益相关者组织的跨学科专家团队，以便优先考虑并规划应对与废物资源回收相关的紧迫科学需求。具体而言，该项目将探索营养丰富水域（例如池塘、人工农场湿地、可持续城市排水系统和天然水体）中过量水生植物和藻类生物量生产的养分回收，最重要的是，将整合经济、社会、环境和健康。跨越传统学科的相关维度。因此，该项目的总体目标是促进生物学、地理学、土壤和水科学、微生物学、人类行为、风险感知、废物管理、经济学和流域管理等学科界限的知识交流。反过来，我们将制定一项全面、整体和有针对性的研究计划，以实现养分从土地到水的转移的“闭环”。这将通过了解和量化将过量水生植物和藻类生物质回收回农田的风险、机遇和多重效益来支撑。因此，该项目将有助于当前“废物”管理概念的范式转变，以纠正目前对从废物中回收资源的经济效益的关注不平衡的问题。在更广泛的背景下，有效和可持续的废物管理必须考虑到整个环境中废物管理通常无法量化和不确定的权衡。例如，从水生植物和藻类生物质中回收养分具有经济意义，因为由于矿物质供应短缺，化肥成本飙升；然而，这只是复杂的社会经济生态系统的一部分。我们需要将经济与保障人类健康和保护关键生态系统服务（例如提供清洁安全的娱乐和饮用水）结合起来，并认识到可能阻碍或促进从这种“废物”中有效回收营养的社会和政治障碍。 '副产品。虽然我们知道水生系统中人为输入的养分可以被水生生物量同化，但我们对将这种生物量重新应用于土地后如何通过农业生态系统回收病原体和毒素知之甚少，而且对非水生生物量中氮和磷的释放率知之甚少。 -堆肥和堆肥生物质。此外，将水生植物和藻类生物质制成生物炭（木炭）作为回收养分和在土壤中储存碳（以抵消二氧化碳排放）的新方法的潜在作用是废物资源回收的另一个方面- 可以为更广泛的社会带来多种效益和生态系统服务的产品。还有许多与政策相关的其他方面需要讨论，包括在监管和许可方面是否存在围绕回收生物质分类为非废物的问题。我们的团队拥有充分的专业知识，可以开发将生物质回收到农业用地的均衡研究议程所需的核心工作包。因此，项目团队的任务是提出一些重要的新兴问题，这些问题将在 2020 年需要创新科学和综合解决方案以及更远的地方。通过汇集本次催化剂资助中汇集的跨学科专业知识，我们将确定哪些方面需要改进基本认识，以实现“废物”管理的逐步变革，以实现环境效益，并帮助完善监管政策和实践以支持这一目标。

项目成果

Can macrophyte harvesting from eutrophic water close the loop on nutrient loss from agricultural land?

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.01.046
• 发表时间: 2015-04
• 期刊: Journal of environmental management
• 影响因子: 8.7
• 作者: R. Quilliam;Melanie van Niekerk;D. Chadwick;P. Cross;N. Hanley;Davey L. Jones;A. Vinten;N. Willby;D. Oliver