Natural and Synthetic Microbial Communities for Sustainable Production of Optimised Biogas
MICRO4BIOGAS enhances European biogas production by developing efficient microbial consortia derived from native anaerobic digester communities. Conducted in Aras de los Olmos (Spain), the project focuses on organic waste streams and applies bioaugmentation, kinetic modelling, flux balance analysis, and adaptive evolution to increase yield, quality, and reproducibility. It identifies a core microbial community, including the newly described Darwinibacteriales, that improves methane production through interaction with methanogenic archaea. Pilot trials show 15–30% higher biogas output, faster start-up times, and improved gas quality. MICRO4BIOGAS designs scalable microbial additive kits and enriched digestates for operational use, advancing circular bioenergy and waste valorisation. The project actively shares results with industry stakeholders, laying the groundwork for widespread application of microbiome-based biogas enhancement technologies across Europe.
Duration: 2021 – 2025
Programme: Horizon 2020
Project ID: 101000470
Total Budget: € 5,739,650.08
Keywords: microbial consortia, bioaugmentation, biogas yield, methane optimisation, digestate reuse, renewable energy production