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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Plan2fix (Nitrogen-enriched plasma activated water, an unparalleled plant feeding system)

Teaser

Summary

Horticultural producers fertilise their crops with Nitrogen (N) to ensure healthy, abundant and profitable yields that meet the increasing food demand. N is mostly supplied through synthetic N-fertilisers, which are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, energy-intensive and consequently very pollutant. 70% of the N supplied is not absorbed by crops, resulting in soil and water pollution. Additionally, the supply chain of synthetic N-fertilisers entails a great amount of GHG emissions. Only in EU, the direct cost derived from this contamination is estimated at â‚¬14 B/year. The supply of N with such mineral fertilisers is unsustainable because the price of nitrogen is highly dependent on changes in the price of natural gas, and organic fertilisers cannot meet the demand owing to their narrow-range applicability and limited availability.
Our project objective is to provide a ground-breaking solution that makes the whole traditional N-fertiliser supply chain redundant and that enables the use of renewable energy sources. We will launch PLAN2FIX, an innovative plasma nitrogen fixation unit that extracts N directly from the air and dissolve it into water on the spot. PLAN2FIX is a modular, efficient system that generates liquid fertiliser (plasma activated water, PAW) on the spot .

Work performed

During phase 1 we evaluated the project from a technical and commercial point of view. We have devised the technical plan for the upscaling of the system to meet the needs of greenhouse horticulture. We have evaluated the costs of goods sold and secured the future provision of components to assemble the units with key suppliers. Additionally, Commercially, we have communicated the project to key clients of our network and engaged key stakeholders in the project demonstration activities, so that we can leverage the project results as flagship experiences in further communication activities .

Final results

PLAN2FIX generates PAW, a liquid N-fertiliser that can be customised to deliver the exact amount of N that the plant can absorb and thus no N is lost into the environment. PLAN2FIX can run with cost-wise, zero-carbon renewable energy sources and avoids the dependence on fossil fuels, costs and GHG emissions of the traditional supply chain. The use of PLAN2FIX with electricity from the grid will reduce fertilising costs of growers by 35%, and more when using amortised renewable energy sources. Our estimations show that VitalFluid will obtain â‚¬ 22 M in profits, EBITDA of 49%, and a ROI of 5.71 in 5 years. We expect to generate 22 new jobs until 2026 .