Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 7 hrs ago
Brazil’s biogas plans could also reduce reliance on imported fertilisers
Brazil is using waste to develop biogas and biomethane as alternatives to fossil fuels.
The process also creates digestate, a leftover material that can contain nutrients useful to farms.
Brazil imports about 90% of its fertiliser inputs, leaving farmers and the economy exposed to supply disruptions and price rises.
Digestate is not automatically safe or ready to use as fertiliser; it needs treatment, testing and transport planning.
An Embrapa-led initiative is developing ways to recover key nutrients and make agricultural use possible at a larger scale.
If biogas expands as projected, recovering those nutrients could cut Brazil’s fertiliser import dependence by up to 5%.
The proposal links waste management with energy, farming and climate goals, since well-managed digestion can also reduce methane emissions.
The National Fertiliser Plan provides a starting point, but further research, standards and financing are still needed.
Brazil could use biogas production to reduce both fossil-fuel use and reliance on imported fertilisers.
Digestate, a by-product of anaerobic digestion, can return nutrients to farmland if it is treated and converted into biofertiliser.
About 90% of Brazil’s fertiliser inputs are imported, according to the article.
Embrapa-led work is developing ways to recover and concentrate nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from digestate.
Embrapa says this could reduce Brazil’s import dependence by up to 5% if biogas production grows as projected.
- Who
- Brazil and the Embrapa-led Brazilian Digestate Initiative.
- What
- The article argues that treating digestate from biogas production could help reduce reliance on imported fertilisers.
- When
- The article was published on 10 November 2026.
- Where
- Brazil.
- Why
- About 90% of Brazil’s fertiliser inputs are imported, leaving the country exposed to supply and price risks.
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- Imported fertiliser inputs
- About 90% of Brazil’s inputs are imported
- Potential reduction in import dependence
- Up to 5%, if biogas grows as projected, according to Embrapa
- Nutrients recovered
- Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
- Projected fertiliser price rise
- 32% in 2026, according to the World Bank forecast cited in the article
- Global maritime fertiliser trade through the Strait of Hormuz
- About one-third