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Climate Positive Drying System for Coffee Industries using a highly disruptive Pyrolysis Technology

Project description

An eco-friendly way to dry coffee cherries

Picked from trees, coffee cherries need to dry in the sun. The coffee cherries may be spread out on large concrete patios to dry in the sun or under a burner. The first method requires weeks. The second method produces heavy smoke and environmental pollution and can cause lung diseases. Both methods are barely profitable due to the difficulties of getting stable and high-quality drying. The EU funded PYROTECH project proposes an alternative based on a disruptive pyrolysis technology, which is up to 10 times cheaper and reduces CO2 emissions. Additionally, the PYROTECH process produces biochar out of agro food waste, which is a powerful soil enhancer. The excess heat released can then be used for drying purposes.

Objective

PYROTECH is based on a highly disruptive pyrolysis technology as a heating source for drying coffee cherries and makes it possible to produce biochar (a fertilizer used in coffee agriculture). It will displace the market’s “dry methods” for processing coffee, which involves sun drying or the use of heat coming from a conventional burner, which produces heavy smoke, environmental pollution, and lung diseases as well as negatively affecting the quality of coffee cherries quality and resulting in black colouring. PYROTECH is four to ten times cheaper than other pyrolysis systems. It will generate more than 6,5 million euros of additional income for European coffee companies and will eliminate more than 18.000 tonnes of C02 emissions in the first three years due to the carbon sequestration potential of coffee husk used and biochar produced. Currently, more than 9,5 million tonnes of green coffee beans are processed annually, from which 4,8 million tonnes are produced using the dry method. Taking into account the market size, market distribution and current interest of our potential clients, PYROTECH will cover after five years of commercialization, 18% of the total amount of pyrolysis machines needed to dry the coffee cherries.
Coffee buyers will require farmers to use PYROTECH as a result of the increased quality of the product, the decrease in the selling price and the improved health and safety conditions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

SOFIES-EMAC AG
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
WILDBACHSTRASSE 46
8008 ZÜRICH
Switzerland

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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