BioMade | Energy Recovery from Insect Waste via a Two-Stage Biogas Process About the Project
About the Project
REPLOID Deutschland GmbH (formerly madebymade GmbH) is collaborating with DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg to develop an innovative process for the energy recovery of insect waste—the byproduct of breeding and processing the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)—using a two-stage biogas process.
Insect production generates significant amounts of waste, a mixture of substrate residues, excrement, and insect exoskeletons. The BioMade project is developing a specially adapted, two-stage biogas process that simultaneously produces biogenic hydrogen and methane and directly integrates the legally required sanitization of the substrate—without additional external process steps. This efficiently harnesses the energy potential of this material stream and further closes the sustainable cycle of insect production.
The findings provide the scientific basis for the widespread application of this process in the growing insect farming industry—as a contribution to the circular economy, the bioeconomy, and the energy transition.
Objectives
• Development and upscaling of a two-stage biogas process for the simultaneous production of biogenic hydrogen and methane from anaerobic digestion slurry
• Integration of the legally required sanitization directly into the thermophilic pre-reactor (70 °C) – without an external sanitization stage
• Characterization and evaluation of the digestate regarding its suitability as a fertilizer
• Conceptual design and integration of the BioMade process at the Pegau site (including energy and material flows)
• Economic and technical evaluation and preparation for market readiness
Project details
| Project title: | Digestion of insect meal in a two-stage biogas process (BioMade) |
| Funding period | 01.01.2025–31.12.2027 |
| Eligible total expenditure: | 344.665,28 EUR |
| EU funding (ESF Plus) | 206.799,16 EUR |
| Beneficiary: | REPLOID Deutschland GmbH (formerly madebymade GmbH), Pegau (Saxony) |
| Network Coordinator: | DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH, Freiberg |
