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Development and global enforcement of GHG capture photobioreactors in agroindustrial activities. (LIFE+ IntegralCarbon)
Start date: Jul 1, 2014, End date: Dec 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Background The EU is moving towards a low-carbon economy as part of its strategy to tackle challenges caused by changing climate patterns. Improvements in, and expansion of, sustainable agricultural practices can contribute to this strategy. According to the Commission’s Communication, ‘A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050’, by 2050 the agriculture sector can reduce non-CO2 emissions by 42-49% compared to 1990. The sector has already achieved a significant reduction. More reductions are feasible in the next two decades. Agricultural policies should focus on options such as further sustainable efficiency gains, efficient fertiliser use, bio-gasification of organic manure, improved manure management, better fodder, local diversification and commercialisation of production and improved livestock productivity, as well as maximising the benefits of extensive farming. Objectives The main objective of the project is to demonstrate the climate-mitigation efficiency of agro-industry activities based on GHG capture by cultivated native algae. A soil bio-improver will then be produced. To meet this objective, the project will develop a cultivation system of autochthonous algae harnessing waste from different agro-industries: wineries, cheese producers and cattle. The selection of the algae and cyanobacteria species will be carried out according to, their GHG storage capacity, among other considerations. Once the algae species are chosen, they will be cultivated in two newly developed mobile cultivation plants (photobioreactors), which will be fed with liquid waste from two wineries and a cheese producer. The final result will be algae biomass which will be applied as powder soil bio-improver in agricultural, forestry land as well as in areas in process of soil remediation. In short, the project aims to capture GHGs, reuse waste from two agro-industries and reduce the use of mineral and synthetic fertilisers in agriculture, forestry and soil remediation. Expected results: Construction of versatile and mobile prototypes for waste pre-treatment cultivation of the biomejorador of algae; Cultivation of 30m3 of algae for use in waste pre-treatment process and capture of the equivalent of 187 tonnes of carbon a year; Reduction by 40-65% per ha of the carbon footprint in agriculture through partial substitution of mineral nitrogen fertilisation; Demonstration of the real economic cost of including these prototypes, to mitigate GHG in the agro-industrial sector, as an integrated management of waste and GHG emissions; Demonstration of the versatility of these prototypes in agro-based industries that emit GHGs and generate waste; and Demonstration of the socio-economic benefits from the new technology, particularly in terms of improving business competitiveness in the agro-industry.

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