Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Agrobiogel (AgroBiogel International Scale-up)
Période du rapport: 2023-07-01 au 2024-06-30
AgroBiogel GmbH, located in Tulln an der Donau in Austria, is a University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna spin-off producing Agrobiogel(AGB), a novel multifunctional 100 % lignin-based water absorbent hydrogel. Hydrogels are polymeric materials able to absorb and store large amounts of water. AgroBiogel GmbH specializes in producing hydrogels for agricultural applications aimed at increasing the soil water holding capacity and enabling a controlled release of nutrients/fertilizers as well as converting agriculture none-productive soils into productive soils. ABG mimics humus and degrades into humus, therefore it also increases soil organic matter. These properties enable plants to survive increasing erratic rainfall patterns and drought periods as well as to reduce irrigation frequency.
Key topics/problems/facts adressed by Agrobiogel comprise:
1. Water is becoming a scarce commodity in the world. Currently, 70 % of all fresh water is used for irrigation. This illustrates the urgent need for smart solutions to improve water usage efficiency. ABG has the ability to reduce watering frequency by up to 40%.
2. Increasing erratic rainfall patterns and droughts cause devastating consequences on food security, forests, etc. ABG´s ability to absorb and store large amounts of water (1g absorbs 10-15 g water its weight in <30 minutes) during rain periods and slowly releasing it to the plants the rain have stopped, enables plants/crops to survive drought periods. In addition, unlike any other existing hydrogels, ABG as a product derived from lignin naturally degrades into humus and possesses the intrinsic potential to trap and slowly release important plant nutrients.
3. Improving soil fertility will help to reverse current losses of agriculture productive soils. For example, from 2000–2013, drought and desertification resulted in the loss of 12 million hectares of agricultural land.
4. ABG´s natural ability to trap important plant cations makes it an excellent nutrient storage and slow delivery system. In addition, ABG reduces nitrous oxide emissions from soil arising from nitrogen based fertilizers such as urea and ammonium. These benefits help farmers/plant growers to lower agricultural input costs, reduce their carbon footprint and prevent environmental pollution.
5. ABG provides valorization potenial to underutilised lignin from the Pulp & Paper industry. Currently, only a single digit percentage of the annual 100 million tons lignin production is used for high value products.
The EIC funding secures this capital intensive project as it requires the scaling of the technology from TRL 6 to TRL 8 and finally TRL 9 including the market entry and a fully functional production plant.
Key topics/problems/facts adressed by Agrobiogel comprise:
1. Water is becoming a scarce commodity in the world. Currently, 70 % of all fresh water is used for irrigation. This illustrates the urgent need for smart solutions to improve water usage efficiency. ABG has the ability to reduce watering frequency by up to 40%.
2. Increasing erratic rainfall patterns and droughts cause devastating consequences on food security, forests, etc. ABG´s ability to absorb and store large amounts of water (1g absorbs 10-15 g water its weight in <30 minutes) during rain periods and slowly releasing it to the plants the rain have stopped, enables plants/crops to survive drought periods. In addition, unlike any other existing hydrogels, ABG as a product derived from lignin naturally degrades into humus and possesses the intrinsic potential to trap and slowly release important plant nutrients.
3. Improving soil fertility will help to reverse current losses of agriculture productive soils. For example, from 2000–2013, drought and desertification resulted in the loss of 12 million hectares of agricultural land.
4. ABG´s natural ability to trap important plant cations makes it an excellent nutrient storage and slow delivery system. In addition, ABG reduces nitrous oxide emissions from soil arising from nitrogen based fertilizers such as urea and ammonium. These benefits help farmers/plant growers to lower agricultural input costs, reduce their carbon footprint and prevent environmental pollution.
5. ABG provides valorization potenial to underutilised lignin from the Pulp & Paper industry. Currently, only a single digit percentage of the annual 100 million tons lignin production is used for high value products.
The EIC funding secures this capital intensive project as it requires the scaling of the technology from TRL 6 to TRL 8 and finally TRL 9 including the market entry and a fully functional production plant.
The project is divided into 3 main work packages, WP2, WP3 and WP5 (not including the management work packages):
WP2: Technical marketing and product management.
- Patent application has been launched in strategic relevant markets: Europe, USA, South Africa and Canada.
- Brand name protection for the product was applied at EUIPO in May 2023.
- None Disclosure Agreement templates were set up and are in place with our partners and key accounts.
- ABG was successfully registered as soil conditioner/additive for both conventional farming and organic farming in Austria and Germany (incl. EU certificate of conformity). ABG is the first long lasting hydrogel approved for organic farming in Austria and Germany.
- Preparation of Product specifications & standards sheets according to the fertilizer regulation § 9 DMG 2021.
- Agrobiogel defined 6 different market segments: Home and Garden, Substrate Producers, Landscape Gardening, Forestry, Agriculture and Industry.
- Agrobiogel GmbH cooperates with farmers, experts, and Good Experimental practice companies to test and/or independently validate the impact and performance of ABG on field crops, vegetables, trees and, home and garden plants.
- ABG set up internal and external product quality testing protocols.
- A 2 year trial plan for ABG relevant crops was set up
- An in depth market study including competitor analysis was done.
WP3: Establishing an optimized, automated, operational production.
- During the reporting period, industrial scale production equipment was secured and assembled. Corresponding optimization including automatization of the processes are ongoing.
- The production in Tulln acts as an industrial demo-scale production facility for future industry partners
WP 5: Market Entry – Setting the foundation for market entry
- Preparation of distribution channels in the DACH region, Spain, Italy, Poland with national and international partners.
WP2: Technical marketing and product management.
- Patent application has been launched in strategic relevant markets: Europe, USA, South Africa and Canada.
- Brand name protection for the product was applied at EUIPO in May 2023.
- None Disclosure Agreement templates were set up and are in place with our partners and key accounts.
- ABG was successfully registered as soil conditioner/additive for both conventional farming and organic farming in Austria and Germany (incl. EU certificate of conformity). ABG is the first long lasting hydrogel approved for organic farming in Austria and Germany.
- Preparation of Product specifications & standards sheets according to the fertilizer regulation § 9 DMG 2021.
- Agrobiogel defined 6 different market segments: Home and Garden, Substrate Producers, Landscape Gardening, Forestry, Agriculture and Industry.
- Agrobiogel GmbH cooperates with farmers, experts, and Good Experimental practice companies to test and/or independently validate the impact and performance of ABG on field crops, vegetables, trees and, home and garden plants.
- ABG set up internal and external product quality testing protocols.
- A 2 year trial plan for ABG relevant crops was set up
- An in depth market study including competitor analysis was done.
WP3: Establishing an optimized, automated, operational production.
- During the reporting period, industrial scale production equipment was secured and assembled. Corresponding optimization including automatization of the processes are ongoing.
- The production in Tulln acts as an industrial demo-scale production facility for future industry partners
WP 5: Market Entry – Setting the foundation for market entry
- Preparation of distribution channels in the DACH region, Spain, Italy, Poland with national and international partners.
- Extensive Technical marketing and product management to position our product on the market and identify our USP.
- Organic farming certification was very important as competitive products are at least partly based on fossil fuel raw materials - prohibiting an organic farming certification.
- Successful establishment of product quality control standards and quality parameters/protocols for our product ensures that we are able to deliver products that meet regulatory requirement
- Agrobiogel defined 6 different market segments for the usage of the hydrogel: Home and Garden, Substrate Producers, Landscape Gardening, Forestry Agriculture and Industry.
- More than 40 extensive field trials to ensure a perfect fit of our product to the needs of the customers.
- Establishment of an optimized, automated, operational production. During the reporting period, the fit for purpose and optimization of individual unit process has been achieved. This means that each step has been scaled up to tons level per day, is highly reproducible and is now routine.
- The production plant in Tulln acts as an industrial demo scale production facility for future expansion.
- Organic farming certification was very important as competitive products are at least partly based on fossil fuel raw materials - prohibiting an organic farming certification.
- Successful establishment of product quality control standards and quality parameters/protocols for our product ensures that we are able to deliver products that meet regulatory requirement
- Agrobiogel defined 6 different market segments for the usage of the hydrogel: Home and Garden, Substrate Producers, Landscape Gardening, Forestry Agriculture and Industry.
- More than 40 extensive field trials to ensure a perfect fit of our product to the needs of the customers.
- Establishment of an optimized, automated, operational production. During the reporting period, the fit for purpose and optimization of individual unit process has been achieved. This means that each step has been scaled up to tons level per day, is highly reproducible and is now routine.
- The production plant in Tulln acts as an industrial demo scale production facility for future expansion.