PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Aim of the project is the demonstration of the first large-scale vertical Lemna cultivation to produce high-value Lemna protein for food and feed at project end. Input for Lemna cultivation is waste heat and CO2, which will be reused instead of being released to the environment, as well as renewable power and fertilizer. LEMNERGY will proof that also fertilizer demand can be satisfied by industrial waste products. Therefore, the coupling of vertical Lemna farming with fish farming will be demonstrated in a small-scale combined circular plant where Lemna output is used as fish feed and aquaculture waste is reused as fertilizer and CO2 input for Lemna cultivation. Hence, LEMNERGY will support the transition to a circular economy by applying a circular approach for Lemna cultivation using waste and by-products of other industries as input materials. The circular LEMNERGY technology enables for industrial symbiosis of CO2-/energy-intensive industries, food/feed production industry and aquaculture industry and has not been tested or applied before. Although vertical farming is an upcoming technology, water lentils such as Lemna have not been farmed in industrial scale in such a system before because the scalable Lemna cultivation was not practical due to efficiency, costs and safety requirements. LEMNERGY shows significant environmental advantages compared to current best practice solutions in all involved sectors, e.g. possibility to reuse aquaculture waste and low-temp. waste heat and diverse environmental benefits compared to alternative protein sources such as soy, fish and livestock, e.g. -99% water consumption and land use, -88% GHG emission and -76% energy consumption. Hence, LEMNERGY contributes to the implementation and updating of EU environmental and climate policies and helps to increase public awareness. Furthermore, the technology enables for upscaling, broad replication and transfer to other energy-intensive and CO2 emitting industries on an even larger scale.