Project description
Environmentally friendly disposal of palm oil production waste
The palm oil production industry generates 60 M tonnes of waste as empty fruit baskets annually. The land dumping of empty baskets causes decomposition with high levels of methane emission and water pollution, while incineration disposal was banned completely as a major contributor to global CO2 emission. AutoDisplay GmbH developed enzyme technology that can prevent the environmental damage caused by empty fruit basket dumping. This EU-funded project supports the effort to incorporate this innovative technology into the growing palm oil production industry as a necessary step for conversion to self-sufficient and environmentally responsible biorefinery processing.
Objective
AutoDisplay GmbH is a German SME that is using its designer enzyme technology MATE to combat the environmental crisis caused by empty fruit basket (EFB) dumping within the palm oil production sector. By allowing the design of re-usable enzyme blends for specific biomasses allows palm oil biorefinery operators to comply with environmental regulations, as well as the demand for environmentally sustainable products from their clients.
60M tonnes of EFB waste is generated annually by the growing palm oil production sector. EFB disposal through incineration has been banned since 1996 as it was emitting 500M tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, contributing 1.4% of global net CO2 emissions. This increased land dumping of EFB whose decomposition causes high levels of methane emissions and water table pollution. Due to the lack of commercial and political incentives, R&D of biomass industrial enzyme technologies has been directed to starchy biomass feedstocks. Thus, no specific enzyme technology has been developed for the treatment of the specific fibrous structure and high lignin content of EFB, which makes it recalcitrant to currently available enzyme treatments at an industrial scale.
With our MATE technology we have a unique advantage within the growing €58B palm oil market that is supplied from 782 palm oil mills globally. By incorporating the MATE technology within a full Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) package we can offer a turn-key product for palm mills owners seeking to re-engineer, or build from scratch, a self-sufficient and environmentally friendly palm oil biorefinery. The MATE system allows (i) savings upward of 60% of enzyme costs for EFB processing, (ii) compliance with environmental legislations and consumer sensitivities regarding EFB waste treatment, as well as (iii) opening up a new revenue channel for the sale of the 2nd generation sugars produced by the MATE saccharification of EFB worth potentially €5.5B globally.
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
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials biofuels
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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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.
40225 DUSSELDORF
Germany
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.