Profile: AGRIFORVALOR project – The case of the Andalusian Biomass Innovation Design Hub

Type of post: PROJECT PROFILE.

The AGRIFORVALOR project is just about to end. This interesting European initiative has brought together members from all sectors adjacent to the bioeconomy, helping identify where value can be found in sidestream products from agriculture and forestry. Let us know more about the project and the specific activities developed in one of its pilot hubs (Andalusia).

Figure 1. Logo of the AGRIFORVALOR Project

Project approach

1. Agriforest wastes ¿problem or opportunity?

Agricultural and forest sectors generate large quantities of by-products. Usually, they are considered as wastes and, even, suppose an environmental issue. However, it is better to think of these materials as an opportunity. The sidestreams from many agricultural and forestry industry activities have the potential of becoming valuable feedstock for a range of sectors.

2. There are obstacles limiting the exploitation of sidestream biomass resources

The main barriers are: the lack of internal financing; obstacles that originate in legislation and legal requirements, as well as lengthy administrative and approval procedures; lack of appropriate external funding sources and uncertainty around economic viability of the biobased products.

3. AGRIFORVALOR goal

The project was designed to overcome those obstacles and act as a mediator and facilitator of new commercial opportunities for the agriculture and forestry sectors. Specifically, the project aims to bridge the research and innovation divide by connecting practitioners from agriculture and forestry to research and academia as well as with associations and clusters, bioindustry, policy makers, business support organisations, innovation agencies and technology transfer intermediaries in multi-actor innovation partnership networks.

4. Innovation Design Hubs

The networks are managed by three Biomass Innovation Design Hubs: Andalusia, South-East Hungary and Ireland. In each of these hubs, existing research results and good practices on valorisation of biomass sidestreams from agro and forest are shared and matched with the specific needs and potentials. The focus is being placed on regional development.

Key data

Main objective	Identification of potential biomaterials that were formerly not considered valuable and the development of the technology needed to exploit them.
Call and topic	- H2020-ISIB-2015-1. - Funding scheme: CSA - Coordination and support action. - ISIB-02-2015 - Closing the research and innovation divide: the crucial role of innovation support services and knowledge exchange.
Duration	From 01/03/2016 to 31/08/2018.
Total cost (EU contribution)	1.997.416,25 € (1.997.416,25 €)
Project leader	Steinbeis 2i GmbH (Germany)
Consortium	- Agencia Andaluza del Conocimiento (Spain) - Agriculture and food development authority (Ireland) - Agrifood cooperatives of Andalusia (Spain) - Association of Enterprises of Forest and Landscape in Andalusia (Spain) - Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research (Hungary) - Gabinete de Iniciativas Europeas (Spain) - GrowAbric (Belgium) - Institute of Technology Tralee (Ireland) - Irish Farmers Association (Ireland) - Irish Business and Enterprise Confederation (Ireland) - National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (Hungary) - LAVINA Foundation for agricultural innovation (Hungary) - PILZE - Nagy Kft. (Hungary) - University of Ghent (Belgium) - Wageningen University & Research, Environmental Research (Netherlands)

Impacts

- In each hub, Steering Committees, consisting of experts on exploitation and business development, monitored and consulted the conceptualization and implementation of the trainings and support measures.

- Tailor-made innovation support tools and materials were developed in line with the identified needs of forestry and agriculture. The main example is an interactive online tool on sidestream biomass that acts as a networking and marketing platform in order to connect players (winner of the CommBeBiz Innovation Award 2017 as “Best Innovation Tool”).

- Project results and experiences were translated into recommendations for a more demand-driven research agenda as well as long-term end-user materials to feed into the EIP-AGRI.

The Andalusian Hub

Those are some examples of the actions and activities carried out in the Andalusian hub:

Business case identification

Opportunities for biomass valorisation for the large volumes of olive sidetreams generated in this Spanish region:

- Extraction of valuable compounds from the olive mill sidestreams (e.g. polyphenols, anti-oxidants) for ingredients for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

- After extraction of valuable compounds, anaerobic codigestion (mix with pig or cow slurry and other crop residues) can be applied to produce biogas. The biogas can be sold for heating purposes (transport through piping) or can be used to generate electricity.

- Techniques using fermentation of olive mile sidestreams to produce biopolymers, enzymes and biofuels are promising but have to be further developed and economically validated.

Project consultancy

One of the projects that has received technical advice and guidance from the Hub is about the use of composting and vermicomposting of the olive mill effluents and the wastes of the olive pruning to obtain a high quality and affordable organic fertiliser. The partnership consists of: Cooperativa olivarera San Isidro de Loja, Universidad de Granada, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de Andalucía, Consejo Andaluz de Ingenieros Técnicos Agrícolas. It resulted in an Operational Group funded by EIP-AGRI and received the Best Business Model Award 2018 in the Andalusian Hub.

Interhub mission

30 experts and professionals of the sector attended to this meeting that gave them the chance of knowing about successful business cases of Andalusian companies focused on the valorisation of agroforest biomass and collaborating in the creation of international cooperation nets:

- Visit to the biogas plant of GIESA Agroenergía in Campillos (Málaga). It processes pig slurries mixed with olive oil processing industry wastes.

- Visit to the plant of the joint venture NATAC and Oleica El Tejar in Palenciana (Córdoba) where bioactive compounds are extracted from biomass of the olive grove.

- Visit to the biomass plant of Valoriza Energía en Puente Genil (Córdoba).

- Visit to the biomass plant of Ence in Huelva.

- Visit to the pilot plant of the Instituto de La Grasa in Sevilla, focused on the treatment and valorisation of wastewater from agrifood industries and other industrial effluent through anaerobic digestion processes.

Figure 2. Interhub mission: Visit to the biomass plant of Ence in Huelva (courtesy of AGRIFORVALOR)

Events

- I Workshop AGRIFORVALOR: Valorisation of agriforest wastes and byproducts in Andalusia (Seville, 24/11/2016)

- II Workshop AGRIFORVALOR: Valorisation of agriforest wastes and byproducts in Andalusia (Malaga, 15/02/2017)

- Workshop of regulation in the field of agriforest biomass (Seville, 30/10/2017)

- Workshop AGRIFORVALOR on opportunities of funding for biomass valorisation (Seville, 16/11/2017)

- I Forum of the Andalusian Bioeconomy Strategy (Seville, 12/012/2017).

Acknowledgements: I would like to express my appreciation to Cristina Cabeza (Coordinator of the Andalusian Hub) for her kind collaboration.