Project description
Innovative technology for European algae production
Microalgae are increasingly used in human food, animal feed, health products, cosmetics, wastewater treatment, production of biodiesel and other industries. However, this growth is not reflected in European microalgae production, which lags behind other regions. As a result, some European industries depend on imports. Currently, extensive algae production is made by using open raceway (RW) ponds. The goal of the EU-funded SBTech SME instrument is to improve algae production in order to reduce energy consumption and increase culture growth rate. Production costs are expected to be reduced by 40 % and productivity increased by a similar amonunt. The technology (focused on the three aspects: geometry of the tanks, energy saving and efficient mixing) has already been successfully tested in two pilot plants and will help to make microalgae a promising raw material for many European industries.
Objective
Microalgae have gained recent attention as sustainable and valuable inputs in many industries: biodiesel, human food, feed, pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics. Paradoxically, European microalgae production is not catching up with this growth, and USA and China are the global leaders. This negative trade balance implies that various European industries depend on international algae suppliers.
Current prevailing technique for algae cultivation are the open raceways (RW) ponds, which still present a high improvement potential to improve their productivity, and hence thire profitability. Technological advances are needed to attract new entrepreneurs to this emerging industry.
Our SBTech project aims at improving the RW system by applying a solution based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology, which will decrease energy consumption while increasing algae growth rate. Our solution reduces the production cost per kg of dried algae by 40%. At this cost level, microalgae become a promising raw material for many industries. In a second stage, SBTech will also be applicable to Photobioreactors, the second cultivation technique in importance.
In Europe, algae industry is concentrated on a large number of small producers. Due to the rapid growth (7%) in three years there will be over 200 farms in Europe, mainly located in France, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. However, forecasts are more optimistic, if we also consider the forthcoming boosting of microalgae for wastewater treatment (WWT): thousands of small WWT plants will be built to comply with current regulations.
Our target customers are promoters/constructors of microalgae farms and algae-related industrial equipment manufacturers. There are not large international competitors in Europe, only local companies, and our system largely overcomes the alternative solutions. Based on our preliminary data, by the 3rd year from market launch, cumulative turnover will reach €11.33M with a cumulative profit of €4.24M.
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 water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- social sciences economics and business business and management entrepreneurship
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology phycology
- natural sciences physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics fluid dynamics computational fluid dynamics
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials biofuels
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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.
41928 PALOMARES DEL RIO
Spain
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.