Soon will be available the video about the Danish case studies. We are happy to share with you some videos of the process.
The Danish video case describes the innovation process and one of the first full-scale biorefining plants that produce Green Protein used to replace soy in feed for monogastric animals like pigs and poultry. The potential is that farmers in Europe can reduce the import of soy protein from the US or China which consumes large quantities of fossil energy and threatens native forests. The video is produced by AgroFossilFree project workers at Innovation Centre for Organic Farming, Denmark, including Mr Erik Fog, who explains how the idea became reality. He has managed several projects and involved many partners including researchers at Aarhus University in the development of the first medium-scale prototype. This enabled the feed industry including Vestjyllands Andel and farmers like Kristian Lundgaard-Karlshøj at Ausumgaard to start producing green protein powder for pigs and poultry. The first full-scale biorefinery is situated next to the biogas plant and windmills that produce energy for the refining process. The Danish Ministry of Food and Fisheries has supported the establishment of the first plants and will in 2023 run a new support scheme to promote green protein production further.
Visit at Ausumgaard biorefinery. Fresh grass transported on belt into the plant where it is mechanically separated into presscake and juice, which is fermented in tanks. The wet and fermentation tank on the left.
Photografer Erik Fog, Innovation Centre for Organic Farming
Currently, the production of green protein at Ausumgaard is based on grass from approximately 400 ha which are cultivated by Ausumgaard and two neighbors. Within one to two years, the goal is to increase production to 700 ha, and within approximately five years to 1000-1200 ha.
The grass protein is stored in a container before transport to the drying unit.
Photografer: Arne Grønkjær Hansen, Innovation Centre for Organic Farming
Kristian Lundgaard-Karlshøj at the biorefinery on Ausumgaard. The plant receives many visits, and he functions as an active communicator of the new technology. Photo: Linda Rosager Duve, Innovation Center for Organic Farming.
We have a biogas plant in which we previously used clover grass silage as a substrate for methane production, and therefore we could see an advantage in first putting the clover grass into the grass protein plant and then using the residual products (press cake and brown juice) in the biogas plant, says Kristian Lundgaard-Karlshøj. This enables us to generate a high-value product from clover grass in the form of green protein, and at the same time, the residual products are better for biogas production than the clover grass silage, he explains.
