Carboxilic Acid Platform (CAP) as starting point for a bio-based fertilizer

The current fertilizers are made using exhaustible resources, which have a negative impact on our climate.

For example, phosphor and nitrogen are extracted from fossil raw materials or by using a big amount of energy derived from fossil fuels. These raw materials are becoming more and more scarce, highlighting the need for new, renewable resources.

The Carboxylic Acid Platform (CAP) is a green, biological technology which allows the production of a complex solution. Multiple natural bacteria, found on the agricultural waste, break down the organic matter into nutrients and short carbon chains. Second, these short carbon chains are elongated to longer, more energy rich molecules. To sum up: the CAP recycles organic, agricultural waste into a nutrient and energy rich solution.

The CAP solution can be used by Avecom as feed source to produce microbial proteins. These microbial proteins are a very nutritious bioavailable nitrogen source for the agricultural crops. They are easily taken up and stimulate growth and increase yield. CAP solution is also rich in micronutrients such as magnesium, calcium, etc. The Paint group from the Ghent University can separate these micronutrients using a specialized membrane technology called electrodialysis. These nutrients can be added to the bio-based fertilizer to support the growth of the crops and make nutrient-rich soils.

After harvesting, the newly produced agricultural waste can again be converted into a CAP solution, which in turn is again converted into a bio-based fertilizer available for the next harvest.