Cyanobacteria | Developing a process for the production of an organic hydroponic fertilizer using nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria

Summary
One of the major consumers in the world today of energy and natural resources, as well as one of the principal emitters of
greenhouse gases, is the industrial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into available ammonical form. This procedure, called the Haber-
Bosch process, has been enhancing agriculture yields with synthetic fertilizers, enabling the great rise in the world population during
the 20th century, but at present times, it has reached a point where it is no longer sustainable.
Organic agriculture addresses this issue by using natural renewable resources to grow food ecologically. Technical approaches such
as hydroponics (and also fertigation and drip irrigation), do so by an efficient use of water and fertilizers to achieve higher yields.
These niche markets are embraced by conscientious consumers, and today boast a market value of billions of € and high growth
rates.
Combining the sustainability of organic agriculture with the efficacy of advanced methods require high quality, naturally or
biologically derived fertilizers. Organic fertilizers on the market today are expensive, unpredictable and their nitrogen is either not
available or has high sodium content, making them unsuitable for robust industrial use.
Our innovation produces nitrogen fertilizer from air and water, efficiently and ecologically in situ. The process we are developing will
harness the innate ability of cyanobacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a stable form of ammonia or nitrate, using the sun as the
energy source. This solution will enable greenhouses and farms to sell organic produce at a premium while boosting their crop yield.
After we complete the feasibility analysis in this project, we aim to continue to SME Phase two in order to scale up our process and
reach a commercial readiness level. Then, we forecast sales of millions of Euros annually within three years, starting with our partner
greenhouses and proceeding to other projects internationally.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/832574
Start date: 01-12-2018
End date: 31-05-2019
Total budget - Public funding: 71 429,00 Euro - 50 000,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

One of the major consumers in the world today of energy and natural resources, as well as one of the principal emitters of
greenhouse gases, is the industrial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into available ammonical form. This procedure, called the Haber-
Bosch process, has been enhancing agriculture yields with synthetic fertilizers, enabling the great rise in the world population during
the 20th century, but at present times, it has reached a point where it is no longer sustainable.
Organic agriculture addresses this issue by using natural renewable resources to grow food ecologically. Technical approaches such
as hydroponics (and also fertigation and drip irrigation), do so by an efficient use of water and fertilizers to achieve higher yields.
These niche markets are embraced by conscientious consumers, and today boast a market value of billions of € and high growth
rates.
Combining the sustainability of organic agriculture with the efficacy of advanced methods require high quality, naturally or
biologically derived fertilizers. Organic fertilizers on the market today are expensive, unpredictable and their nitrogen is either not
available or has high sodium content, making them unsuitable for robust industrial use.
Our innovation produces nitrogen fertilizer from air and water, efficiently and ecologically in situ. The process we are developing will
harness the innate ability of cyanobacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a stable form of ammonia or nitrate, using the sun as the
energy source. This solution will enable greenhouses and farms to sell organic produce at a premium while boosting their crop yield.
After we complete the feasibility analysis in this project, we aim to continue to SME Phase two in order to scale up our process and
reach a commercial readiness level. Then, we forecast sales of millions of Euros annually within three years, starting with our partner
greenhouses and proceeding to other projects internationally.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

Update Date

27-10-2022
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.2. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP
H2020-EU.2.1. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
H2020-EU.2.1.0. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Cross-cutting calls
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
H2020-EU.2.3. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
H2020-EU.2.3.0. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs - Cross-cutting calls
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
H2020-EU.3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES
H2020-EU.3.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1