RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS RECOVERY FROM VEGETABLE FARM WASTES

The long-term goals of this research and education integrated project are to: 1) promote sustainable agriculture and foster a circular economy by recovering energy and nutrients from vegetable farm wastes; 2) improve teaching and learning capacity at Illinois State University (ISU) and provide a quality workforce to the U.S. agricultural industries, and 3) further develop and get closer to commercialization of a novel anaerobic digestion (AD) technology.This project aims to enhance the research and teaching capacity in Environmental Sciences/Management and Agricultural/Biological Engineering at ISU to strengthen the institution's ability to sustainably provide quality and innovative research and teaching in this field. Our research focus will be on further developing the novel cartridge AD system and a better understanding of the enhanced management practices needed for sustainable vegetable farm waste management, including the use of AD for energy recovery and biochar for nutrient recovery. This focus is aligned with the USDA Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026 goal of "Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities." Our educational focus will be developing new teaching materials and providing learning and training opportunities to ISU undergraduate students, community college, and K12 students, and regional crops growers. Research objectives are to: 1) optimize and demonstrate a pilot-scale cartridge anaerobic digester for energy recovery from vegetable farm wastes; 2) examine the effects of biochar addition on cartridge digester performance, and 3) evaluate the benefits of digested biochar for providing essential nutrients to vegetable crops. Teaching objectives are to: 1) develop four new labs and two new teaching modules that will contribute to newly established undergraduate academic sequences; 2) increase undergraduate participation and training in sustainable agriculture research; and 3) enhance the teaching of laboratory-based hands-on skills and analytical techniques.