About 650 000 tons of bioash is generated every year in Finland. However, majority of it is dumped to landfills, noise barriers and to such kind of use, which do not match the definition of circular economy. Bioash is moved from place A to place B and the receiver of ash will make money.
Granulated ash – greener option
There are many biopower plants built and being planned in Finland, where biomass, woodchips, bark and peat will be burned. Bioash will be generated over 700 000 tons annually in the near future. By granulating and lacing it for example with boron, it would become good fertilizer for forests and fields.
The effect of the granulated bioash is over 20 years, even 30 years. While the effect of chemical fertilizer will be weakened after 10 years, the granulated bioash is improving its run and influences and boosts the growth of forest still fairly over 20 years. “The fertilizing should be able to implemented so, that the load of water system does not increase. The circulation of ash would be a very effective way to increase the growth of forest”, says professor Antti Asikainen from LUKE in Maaseudun Tulevaisuus 16.10.2017.
About 10 million hectares of peatlands (swamps) exist in Finland, of which half could be utilized. With the annually generated bioash amount about 200 000 hectares of forests could be utilized. This means that all bioash of Finland could be circulated back to forests if wanted.
The granulated bioash is a safe and competitive product both in the quality and a price wise compared to chemical fertilizers. Why do not we circulate more effectively our bioash to forests then?
