Descrizione del progetto
Un innovativo fertilizzante prodotto a partire da aria e acqua
L’industria dei fertilizzanti a base di azoto rappresenta una notevole consumatrice di risorse, impiegando sino al 2 % della spesa energetica globale. Contribuisce inoltre in modo significativo al riscaldamento globale. Per di più, i fertilizzanti biologici esistenti sono costosi, instabili e non sono in grado di sostenere una solida crescita nelle serre idroponiche e in aziende irrigue avanzate. Il progetto Cyanobacteria, finanziato dall’UE, propone un fertilizzante innovativo, prodotto in modo efficiente ed ecologico a partire da aria e acqua nello stesso sito agricolo. I cianobatteri crescono in un ambiente controllato, fissando costantemente l’azoto dall’aria in una forma stabile di ammoniaca, utilizzando al contempo il sole come fonte di energia. L’ammoniaca viene poi estratta e trasformata in nitrato da batteri specializzati.
Obiettivo
Global consumption of Nitrogen based fertilizers today exceeds 120 million metric tons a year, mostly originating in the Haber-Bosch process. This industry is a sizeable resource consumer, using 3-5% of the global natural gas supply and accounting for 1-2% of global energy expenditures. It’s also a major contributor to global warming, releasing about 10 tons of CO2 for every ton of N fertilizer produced . This is one of the major concerns that has led to double digit growth rates in organic agriculture in recent years. However, organic fertilizers currently on the market are expensive, unstable and fail to support robust, commercial growth in hydroponic greenhouses or in advanced irrigation farms.
Our innovation produces Nitrogen fertilizer from air and water in an efficient and ecological manner at the actual site of the farm or greenhouse. Cyanobacteria grown in a controlled environment, constantly fix nitrogen from the air into a stable form of ammonia, using the sun as the energy source. The ammonia is then extracted and converted to nitrate by specialized bacteria in an automated process. This solution shifts the way greenhouses acquire their N inputs, from importing an industrial product with a high CO2 footprint to sustainably producing it in situ.
GrowPonics utilizes a builder – operator business model - it constructs the project or greenhouse at the client’s site, and then supports its day to day operation. Our clients / partners rely on us to provide cutting edge technologies in horticulture and hydroponics. The cyanobacteria fertilizer project, among others, will contribute to the positioning of GrowPonics as a world leading company in ecological / organic hydroponics and advanced agriculture. Our clients will be able to bolster an ecological branding, and in many cases, to sell their produce as certified organic. Together with other technologies currently in development, such as an automated inspection robot, GrowPonics will be able to offer its client
Campo scientifico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturesustainable agriculture
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringirrigation
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energynatural gas
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulture
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020-3
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinatore
2703309 Kiryat Bialik
Israele
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.