VMU Scientists Have Launched New Project “NENUPHAR”

Scientists from Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) Department of Water Engineering and the Institute of Bioeconomy Research (VMU-AA), led by Professor Arvydas Povilaitis, have started a large-scale HORIZON EUROPE CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-02 (Clean environment and zero pollution) project NENUPHAR – “New governance models to enhance nutrient pollution handling and nutrients recycling”. The project brings together representatives from science, business, and non-governmental organizations from 21 European Union countries. The project duration is 4 years.

The excess of nutrients, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), is one major source of pollution at the EU Level, affecting soil, water, and air and having a severe impact on biodiversity in both inland waters and seas. In Europe, nutrient pollution is generated from intensive agricultural and farming activities and urban areas with high population density. At the same time, fertilizer prices soared during the second half of 2021 and they are reaching unprecedented values.

However, there is a significant untapped potential to recover and reuse N and P from the European food chain. The most promising three wastes to address are animal manure, sewage waste (mainly sludges), and food chain waste, (e.g. slaughterhouse waste). These streams imply a quantity of between 2 and 5 Mt of N and 0.6 Mt of P that are not being recovered, which represent 18-46% of the 11 Mt of mineral N currently applied to EU crops, and 43% of the 1.4 Mt of mineral-based P applied to crops. The recovery of these nutrients would address both the pollution and the high nutrient prices issue.

Therefore, the overall objective of the NENUPHAR project is to demonstrate new circular value chains addressing the recovery of N and P from three key waste streams at the EU level: animal waste, sludges, and wastewater. To this end, the project will develop new holistic governance solutions considering collaboration schemes between stakeholders, processes for N/P recovery, revised regulatory and financial instruments, and tools for stream monitoring and control. These solutions will be demonstrated in the Ebro (Spain), Danube (Hungary and Slovakia), and Lielupė (Latvia and Lithuania) river basins ensuring their European-wide representation. Moreover, two action plans for the replication of the project results and insights will be developed for the islands of Bornholm (Denmark), and Cyprus.

GFarm project: Transforming Tomorrow

GFarm project is an initiative aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector. There are two goals: to develop a model for more efficient GHG assessment and registration and to create a framework for a national carbon sink certification and monitoring system. Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) is one of the project partners. Rytis Skominas, Vilma Naujokienė, Gintautas Mozgeris, Zita Kriaučiūnienė, Egidijus Šarauskis, Rolandas Bleizgys, Rita Čepulienė are the main representatives of the project from the VMU.

Project summary

The land use, land-use change and forestry sector (LULUCF) cover the entire territory of Lithuania and all agricultural land. It contributes to implementing climate change mitigation goals by absorbing GHGs in soil, living biomass, wood, etc. The EC proposes to expand this sector’s scope and include all agriculture in LULUCF from 2031.

European strategic alignment:

Green Deal
Farm to Fork Strategy
Carbon Farming
Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
The new EU forest strategy for 2030

Achieving emission reduction targets requires a careful assessment of GHG calculation methodologies and a closer look at soils high in organic carbon. Even a tiny change to one side or the other can significantly change the balance.

Challenges

Strategic Challenge: Achieving national and EU climate change mitigation and adaptation targets by enabling systemic change in part of Lithuania’s AFOLU sector and governance regarding GHG emission reduction and implementing carbon farming initiatives.

Lack of common procedures and holistic approaches for AFOLU sectors’ climate impact assessment at scale.
Underdeveloped technological ecosystem for GHG emission and sequestration monitoring, accounting and informed decision-making with the AFOLU sector.
Insufficient positive incentives to promote behavioural change with the AFOLU sector and support the transition towards carbon farming practices.

Objectives

Holistic Methodology
GHG monitoring database and carbon register
Data calculation and measuring technological infrastructure
Recommendations for promoting a carbon farming system

Project team:

AgriFood Lithuania DIH LT (coordinator)
UAB ART21 (partner)
UAB DOJUS AGRO LT (partner)
UAB LITAGRA LT (partner)
NATIONAL PAYING AGENCY (partner)
VALSTYBINE MISKU TARNYBA (partner)
VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS (partner)
LIETUVOS MISKO IR ZEMES SAVININKU ASOCIACIJA (partner)
UAB MELDA (partner)
UAB STRATEGY LABS (partner)