Project description
An innovative fertiliser produced from air and water
The nitrogen-based fertiliser industry is a substantial resource consumer uisng up to 2 % of global energy expenditure. It is also a significant contributor to global warming. Moreover, existing organic fertilisers are expensive, unstable and fail to support solid growth in hydroponic greenhouses and in advanced irrigation farms. The EU-funded Cyanobacteria project proposes an innovative fertiliser, efficiently and ecologically produced from air and water at the actual agricultural site. Cyanobacteria grow in a controlled environment, constantly fixing nitrogen from the air into a stable form of ammonia, while using the sun as an energy source. The ammonia is consequently extracted and transformed to nitrate by specialised bacteria.
Objective
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
Fields of science
- 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
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
2703309 Kiryat Bialik
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.