Project description
New liquid fertiliser for farmers
To ensure healthy, abundant and profitable yields, farmers fertilise crops with nitrogen (N). However, N fertilisers are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming. Since only 30 % of N supplied is absorbed by crops, an alternative is necessary. In this context, the EU-funded Plan2fix project will make the whole traditional N fertiliser supply chain redundant. In its place, it will launch an innovative plasma nitrogen fixation unit that extracts N directly from the air and dissolves it into water on the spot. This way, no N is lost in the environment.
Objective
Nitrogen is a vital nutrient in plant development and is currently mainly supplied through synthetic Nitrogen (N) fertilizers. Currently produced from fossil-fuels (natural gas and coal), this artificial Nitrogen (NH3) can only be absorbed by plants once it is transformed by microorganisms into NO3-. However, during this biological process, up to 70% of N is lost into the soil, resulting in soil and water pollution. Only in Europe, the direct cost derived from this contamination has been quantified in around 14 billion/year.
VitalFluid, start-up with long expertise in plasma technology, has developed an innovative plasma nitrogen fixation unit -PLAN2FIX- able to extract N directly from the air and dissolve it into water on the spot, through our patented plasma activation technology. The resulting water (plasma activated water, PAW) is enriched in NO3-, which is readily absorbed by plants. PAW can be used as N-fertilizer and customized so that the exact amount of N the plant can absorb is delivered, and thus no N is lost into the environment.
Our N-enriched PAW is a sustainable and non-pollutant alternative to synthetic N-fertilizers that increases the uptake of nutrients by 20%, has an optimal acidity of pH 5,5 and active oxygen species that kill pathogens and serves as an extra oxygen nutrient. Besides, PLAN2FIX can be powered by renewable energy and connected to the irrigation system, providing a practically free zero-carbon PAW on the spot. No transport, storage, or distribution network is needed to supply farmers with our fertilizer, availability is ensured while price volatility (fossil-fuel price) avoided. Farmers will just need to invest in Plan2Fix units to have an unlimited source of liquid N-fertilizer, eliminating their dependence on suppliers and cutting costs by 48% per hectare/year (35% lower total cost).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy
- engineering and technology civil engineering water engineering irrigation
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy coal
- natural sciences physical sciences plasma physics
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy natural gas
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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.
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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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.
5656 AE EINDHOVEN
Netherlands
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.