RT Journal Article
T1 Closing the loop in agriculture: life cycle assessment from manure to hydrogen and biofertilizer
A1 Tehseen, Arsal
A1 Regueiro, Leticia
A1 Feijoo Costa, Gumersindo
A1 González García, Sara
K1 Conventional farm
K1 Intensive dairy farm
K1 Global warming
K1 Manure management
K1 Biomass
K1 Hydrogen
AB Dairy sector accounts for 14–20 % of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where the major emissions come from manure-management and fertilizers consumption. To address these hotspots, a closed-loop system is developed to valorise livestock manure for simultaneous hydrogen and fertilizer production, thereby fulfilling on-farm energy and nutrient needs. The system, modelled using SuperPro Designer®, consists of anaerobic digestion (AD) for biogas generation, followed by steam methane reforming and a water-gas shift reaction for hydrogen production. The digestate, enriched in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, serves as a biofertilizer, reducing reliance on synthetic alternatives. Simulation results demonstrate that the system can meet the farm's energy demands and supply up to 32 % of its fertilizer requirements.Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCA) was conducted using primary data from both the farm and the simulation model, employing an economic allocation approach within a cradle-to-gate boundary. The functional unit was defined as 1 kg of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM). Two scenarios were evaluated: a conventional intensive dairy farm (Scenario-1) and the same farm with the proposed system (Scenario-2). Scenario-2 resulted in a significant shift in economic value towards hydrogen (63.01 %) and achieved a 66 % reduction in global warming potential per kg of FPCM without compromising milk yield. These results highlight the potential of integrated manure valorisation systems to promote circularity and reduce the environmental footprint of dairy farming. However, there is a need to study the feasibility and scalability of this approach for different farms, climatic-regions and geographical constraints.
PB Elsevier
YR 2026
FD 2026-01-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46469
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46469
LA eng
NO Science of The Total Environment Volume 1011, 10 January 2026, 181135
NO This study develops a closed-loop system for dairy farms to convert livestock manure into hydrogen and biofertilizer, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The system integrates anaerobic digestion with hydrogen production processes and was evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment. Results show a 66% reduction in global warming potential per kg of milk and partial substitution of synthetic fertilizers without affecting productivity. The approach demonstrates strong potential for improving sustainability and circularity in dairy farming.
NO This research has been funded by NUTRITIVE (Grant agreement No. 10113540) project, being funded by the European Commission HORIZON-CL6–2023-ZEROPOLLUTION-02. A.T., G.F. and S.G.G. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2021/37) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431G 2023/12).
DS Minerva
RD 24 may 2026