Cyanobacteria · Developing a process for the production of an organic hydroponic fertilizer using nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria

One of the major consumers in the world today of energy and natural resources, as well as one of the principal emitters ofgreenhouse gases, is the industrial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into available ammonical form. This procedure, called the Haber-Bosch process, has been enhancing agriculture yields with synthetic fertilizers, enabling the great rise in the world population duringthe 20th century, but at present times, it has reached a point where it is no longer sustainable.Organic agriculture addresses this issue by using natural renewable resources to grow food ecologically. Technical approaches suchas hydroponics (and also fertigation and drip irrigation), do so by an efficient use of water and fertilizers to achieve higher yields.These niche markets are embraced by conscientious consumers, and today boast a market value of billions of € and high growthrates.Combining the sustainability of organic agriculture with the efficacy of advanced methods require high quality, naturally orbiologically derived fertilizers. Organic fertilizers on the market today are expensive, unpredictable and their nitrogen is either notavailable or has high sodium content, making them unsuitable for robust industrial use.Our innovation produces nitrogen fertilizer from air and water, efficiently and ecologically in situ. The process we are developing willharness the innate ability of cyanobacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a stable form of ammonia or nitrate, using the sun as theenergy source. This solution will enable greenhouses and farms to sell organic produce at a premium while boosting their crop yield.After we complete the feasibility analysis in this project, we aim to continue to SME Phase two in order to scale up our process andreach a commercial readiness level. Then, we forecast sales of millions of Euros annually within three years, starting with our partnergreenhouses and proceeding to other projects internationally.