{"id":5750,"date":"2022-03-03T13:01:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T10:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humico.lv\/peat-coffee-maker\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T12:17:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T09:17:27","slug":"peat-coffee-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humico.lv\/en\/peat-coffee-maker\/","title":{"rendered":"Peat coffee maker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The lab where the young RTU scientist Krist\u012bne Irti\u0161eva works along with her colleague Andrejs \u0160i\u0161kins looks like something from the Harry Potter novels. Numerous flasks with colourful liquids, various jars and vessels with powders and other substances one would like to feel and sniff. Luckily, it is allowed to do so – the scientists mostly work with organic substances. Currently a new brick production method that involves adding glass to clay is being developed.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Glass bottle shards are melted and mixed with the clay. Results are surprising – the bricks are porous and light as feathers but very sturdy. \u201cI have always been interested in innovative uses of available, well known resources. For example, broken glass can be rubbish or a valuable resource,\u201d excitedly tells the scientist as she is turning her attention to a set of boxes the contents of which look like rabbit droppings. As it turns out, these are pressed used coffee grounds from which both scientists are making potential fuel in the form of granules and briquettes. Of course, you can\u2019t heat an entire city with coffee briquettes, but that would suffice for a private cottage! The granules smell a bit like coffee and a bit like coal – guess they are on the right path. Krist\u012bne is passionate about developing new technologies. She is also working on creating an aluminium, magnesium and scandium wire that could be used in 3D printing. At Maritime Academy, she is working on a lyophilization project – it is a method of freezing fish that allows to keep valuable nutrients in them. She also serves in the National Guard. However, the main attraction in Krist\u012bne\u2019s lab is a vessel filled with fatty, sticky peat paste. Next to it, there is a flask with a black liquid. It is liquid peat – Krist\u012bne\u2019s and Andrejs\u2019s proud achievement. It smells like earth, sludge and malt extract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By diluting this substance in water at ratio 1:1000, a very valuable soil fertilizer is obtained. This is humus. Please don\u2019t confuse it with hummus – a Turkish spread made out of chickpeas. Humus is the organic part of soil that forms when dead plants and animals decompose. Every fallen leaf, rotten fruit, dead worm and any other animal turns into humus over time. That is the foundation of soil fertility. Peat is essentially a humus concentrate. And peat is interesting! Did you know that peat can be 50, 100, 500 or even 1000 years old? The deeper the soil layer, the older the peat. The more decomposed and uniform peat is, the more valuable it is.The deeper the soil layer, the older the peat.But this is not always due to age. In Latvia, valuable peat can be found in the upper layers as well. Slowly decomposing, peat turns into brown coal and leonardite which is similar to petroleum products. As it turns out, peat can turn into petroleum in the deeper ground layers. Unfortunately, the climate in Latvia won\u2019t allow this to happen because the peat is not located deep enough in the ground. Therefore we don\u2019t have a chance to become an oil state swimming in wealth – peat is different in every region. For example, in the UK and Ireland, it resembles brown coal and has been used as fuel for centuries. Whereas in Latvia, peat is very fertile and is used in horticulture and agriculture. Every plant we buy at a nursery garden or market is happily sitting in a pot of peat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peat is an excellent fertilizer but, in it\u2019s pure and dry form, it cannot be effectively used in agriculture – it would be hard to scatter it all over a 100 hectare field. Wind and rain will blow and wash it away leaving nothing behind. For that reason, our young chemical technologist has, through numerous experiments spanning five years, found a way to turn peat into a liquid extract suitable for spraying the largest fields. Humate, or \u201cpeat coffee\u201d Krist\u012bne compares it to making coffee – coffee beans are the resource, and the coffee we are enjoying is the end product. The same applies to her creation – humate. Peat is a resource that needs to undergo several processing phases to obtain liquid humus. Firstly, peat is rigorously mixed with water for a long time until a uniform suspension is obtained. \u201cIt is like making pancake dough with a mixer,\u201d she explains wittily. Then potassium hydroxide is added to the mixture as an alkaline agent. By itself, peat is very acidic, but acids are not water soluble. Potassium hydroxide gives the peat suspension salt-like properties making it soluble. The next steps are thermal processing and extraction. Lastly, thorough filtration takes place to remove any solid particles from the suspension. Krist\u012bne plans to offer her product also to large farms which use spraying methods. Any solid peat particle can clog a sprinkler\u2019s nozzle, and it costs around 200 Euro to exchange one nozzle, therefore such accidents should not be allowed to happen. Potassium humate created by Krist\u012bne and Andrejs is not just a scientific theory. In cooperation with Aigars B\u0113rzi\u0146\u0161 – a former farmer and experienced entrepreneur, Krist\u012bne has founded the company Humico, and the product is already in production. Currently, humate is being tested at a large-scale farm near J\u0113kabpils and on four experimental fields in Stende owned by Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics. The new fertilizer will be used for potatoes, peas, barley and oats. This helps us learn how to use humate – how much of it is needed by each type of soil and each plant species. This year\u2019s extremely hot and dry summer provided a good trial for the product and its possibilities. Even poor quality soil can be a great trial ground. However, the greatest revelations were brought by the humid August. We are made from earth, and we return to earth. Initially, Krist\u012bne intended to focus on biological farmers since humate is a purely biological product. However, testing has shown that it is even more useful for conventional farmers. \u201cI wish to contribute to our agriculture and support our farmers. By the use of mineral fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, soil loses its\u2019 organic components. If, in addition to conventional spraying, farmers also used our product, it would restore the organic content in their fields and improve soil\u2019s natural composition.\u201d What is wrong with conventional mineral fertilizers? Nothing! They are made according to formulae developed for decades and work just fine when used properly. However there is a drawback – mineral fertilizers don\u2019t stay in the soil for very long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as rain falls, they get washed away into groundwater. Whereas peat comes from the ground and stays in the ground. After spraying, humus doesn\u2019t go anywhere and doesn\u2019t get washed away – it stays in the soil and helps restore its\u2019 fertility. Soil is like a whole universe. It contains invisible fungi, minerals, single celled organisms, earthworms and other critters and components, all of which keep it alive. It sounds a bit like cannibalism, but we can compare it to humans and water – our bodies mostly consist of water, therefore we need to drink water. It sounds a bit like cannibalism, but we can compare it to humans and water – our bodies mostly consist of water, therefore we need to drink water. To Africa by the end of this year, Krist\u012bne hopes to see her product on shop shelves available to everyone. This product will need to be diluted in water at a 1:100 ratio. This fertilizer is unique because it doesn\u2019t feed the plants – it feeds the soil they grow in. Humate doesn\u2019t have a specific \u201ctarget audience\u201d of plants. It can be used for rose gardens, orchards, potato and grain fields or greenhouses. It is intended to sell potassium humate at Depo and similar store chains. For farmers, humate will be locally sold as a concentrate and as a solution in large quantities. For export purposes, concentrate will be produced – it is cheaper and easier to transport it. At the moment, several African countries have expressed serious interest in our product. Of course, it is possible to export pure peat to Africa, but that would be expensive and risky. According to Krist\u012bne, rapid temperature changes can make peat \u201cdepressed\u201d. The next step is going to be a new technology that would make use of the by-product of humate production – pressed dry peat residues. They will be turned into granules that can be used as an additional fertilizer. \u201cPeat decomposes very quickly in the soil, but granules are more sustainable – they decompose in many years. My goal is to achieve waste-free production, so that no resources go to waste.\u201d Uncertain future. The young scientist is concerned about the possible peat extraction ban in the European Union. \u201cWe can thank Germany as it has completely depleted its\u2019 peat resources, leaving only white sand behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature preservation organisations raised an alarm and tried to put a stop to it. Now they are working on banning peat extraction in the entire Europe.\u201d The reason is the emissions from peat fuel that negatively affect the climate. Therefore it is completely banned in Ireland – a country almost entirely built on peat fields. However, in Latvia, emissions are not a concern, since peat is being used in agriculture and horticulture. \u201cAccording to the Green Deal, Finland will be the next country to ban peat processing. Latvia and Estonia will follow. People in Brussels obviously have no idea what peat means to us. We have few usable natural resources, and peat is one of the most valuable ones. There are many areas of conservation in Latvia, therefore only around 10% of all available peat can be processed. In reality, only 4% are being used. We can chow an example to other countries by using the resource sparingly and simultaneously renewing it,\u201d Krist\u012bne believes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publication:<\/strong> https:\/\/ir.lv\/2021\/08\/25\/kudras-kafijas-varitaja\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n