Descrizione del progetto
Proteggere le aziende agricole dalla siccità
Il clima ha un impatto sull’agricoltura. A causa dei cambiamenti climatici, sempre più luoghi inaridiscono e sono maggiormente soggetti alla siccità. L’obiettivo prioritario dell’industria agricola è quello di proteggere le risorse naturali e ridurre il consumo di acqua incrementandone la produttività. In questo contesto, il progetto Polygreen, finanziato dall’UE, sosterrà uno studio di fattibilità del PolyGreen, un polimero superassorbente progettato per ridurre il consumo di acqua in agricoltura. Tale polimero è privo di acrilammide cancerogena, è biodegradabile ed è in grado di assorbire l’acqua in eccesso fino a 200 volte il suo peso per rilasciarla durante i periodi di siccità, riducendo così del 50 % la quantità d’acqua consumata. La convalida e il lancio di PolyGreen consentiranno alle aziende agricole di raggiungere la sostenibilità su scala industriale.
Obiettivo
PolyGreen is a Superabsorbent Polymer (SAP) specifically designed to reduce water consumption in agriculture, being able to absorb excess water provided by rain or irrigation up to 200 times its weight and slowly release it during dry period, allowing to reduce the need of water by 50%. PolyGreen is the only SAP for agriculture that does not contain acrylamide, which is a carcinogenic material (Group B2 Probable Human Carcinogen) and will be soon banned from agriculture applications; it is completely biodegradable and behaves as an excellent soil improvers; it has a double durability and reduced price with respect to competitors. PolyGreen is a certified technology validated in the field but currently only targeting domestic or high-end applications, due the high price of 8 €/kg and handicraft production. The aim of the initiative is to optimize the production, reach a price of 3€/kg, validate and launch the product on large scale and high-water demanding industrial crops. To this aim NEST needs to: 1) optimize the supply chain and the manufacturing process; 2) validate and certify the application in specific industrial crops and validating the product price; 3) implement a first industrial manufacturing line of 1750 tons/year then scaled up of 5 times; 4) close agreements with investors and technological partners to support the investment. These assumptions will be validated and confirmed during the feasibility study.
SAP market in agriculture applications is estimated to reach a global value of 327.4 million USD by 2023, of which 30% represented by EU market considered as the Total Addressable Market (TAM) equal to 98 million €/year by 2023. PolyGreen targets to enter the mass market of industrial crops market (1 or 2 crops) in 2021 with a production capacity of 1750 tons then expanded to 10.000 tons, reaching the break-even of the 6.8 M€ investment in 2024. The turnover will reach 30 MEuro, EBIT 6.7 M€ and a cumulated cash flow of 7 M€ in 2025.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringirrigation
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulture
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagricultureindustrial crops
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinatore
57123 LIVORNO (LI)
Italia
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.