📋 Tender Overview
Circular systemic water-energy-food-ecosystems (wefe) nexus ccri demonstrator for regions facing severe water stress.
Contributing to the ccri project portfolio, ciswefe-nex will demonstrate the implementation of a circular systemic wefe nexus, an innovative, fully integrated, & sustainable approach applying the principles of circular economy for closing loops in the key value chains of food, water & nutrients in severely water stressed regions:
1. water:
- a net positive freshwater balance to the water cycle (jrc 2021) will be achieved through combining olive mill wastewater reuse (as a co-product from biophenols extraction) with saltwater desalination at scale without using fossil fuels for use as drinking & irrigation water.
- waste streams from desalination (brine & bitterns) will be repurposed in nature-based solar saltworks as table & epsom salt, made possible because of zero chemical use in the desalination process.
2. energy:
- cutting-edge renewable energy technologies will be developed & demonstrated to achieve a net-zero direct fossil ghg emissions process.
- agri-photovoltaics (crops under pv panels) and biogas from advanced (ultrasonic cavitation assisted) anaerobic digestion fed from olive mill & other biowastes.
3. food:
- innovative nature-based techniques will be demonstrated to enable truly sustainable, healthy, and fresh food & seaweed (containing bioactive compounds for pharma use) production at scale.
- saltwater integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (free of growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilisers, & preservatives).
- regenerative agriculture (organic permaculture reusing precious water & nutrients) and extractive reuse of biophenols from olive mill waste as bioactive products of very high nutri-pharmaceutical value.
4. ecosystems:
- monitoring of traditional & emerging (micro)pollutants using cutting-edge analytics will prevent harmful impacts on the environment & food grown from it with predictive alerts & remedies through a mobile controlled cavitation unit providing (waste)water treatment services (advanced oxidation processes, disinfection).
Funded under
Food, bioeconomy natural resources, agriculture and environment
Total cost
€ 11 084 718,22
Eu contribution
€ 9 659 285,15
Coordinated by
Bioazul, sl
Spain
Start date
1 june 2024
End date
31 may 2029
