TechnologyandInnovation*

*RePro Foodisshortfor“RecirculatingProductionandProcessingofVegetablesandFish”(inSwedish“Kretsloppsbaseradproduktionochförädlingavgrönsakerochfisk”,a20MSEKdevelopmentprojectwitheightpartnerssupportedbySwedishGovernmentalAgencyforInnovationSystems(VINNOVA),projectreferencenumber2015-04412.

http://reprofood.com/

The purpose of this document is to compile and summarize innovation information for public dissemination.

KeyPartnerTechnologies

• Greenhouse:RoyalPrideHollandisoneoftheworldstechnologicallymostadvancedcompaniesinthegreenhouseindustry.

• FishFarming:“Biofloc method”fromVegafish• Heatcaptureanddistribution:Veolia• RAS(RecirculatingAquacultureSystem):Veolia

Greenhouse

Thereliableyear-roundsupplyoffreshtomatoesbyRoyalPrideHollandisonlypossibleduetotheuseofhightechnology.Ourgreenhousesareequippedwithventilationwindows,heatingsystem,energyscreens,supplementallightandthemostadvancedclimateandirrigationcontrolsystemtoprovidetheoptimalgrowingenvironmenttotheplants.Thisintegralsystemallowsustoapplybiologicalcontrol(ofpestanddisease)strategiesensuringtheproductionofahealthy,deliciousandsafeproductfourourconsumers.

FishFarmingVegafish developsenclosed,land-basedsystemforfishandshellfishfarmingbasedontheproven"bioflocmethod".TheVegafish methodisbasedonacontinuousprocessthatyieldsuptofourharvestsperyearand utilizes industrialwastethatisconvertedintomicrobiallining,thusreducingfeedcostandavoidsfishmealasafeedsource.

Heat

With160yearsofexpertiseintheareasofwater,energyandwaste,Veoliaappliesitscapacityforinnovationtopursuinghumanprogressandwellbeing,andimprovingtheperformanceofbusinessesandregions.Tomaketheswitchfromaresourceconsumptionrationaletoause-and-recoverapproachintoday’scirculareconomy,Veoliadesignsandimplementssolutionsaimedatimprovingaccesstoresourceswhileatthesametimeprotectingandrenewingthosesameresources.

RAS

ThevastscopeofresourcesoftheinternationalVeoliagroupwithheatandwaterincludetheAnoxKaldnes™MBBR,MovingBedBiofileReactorandtheKaldnes®RAS(RecirculatingAquacultureSystem).

Picture:RecirculatingAquacultureSystemfromVeoliaWaterTechnologies

InnovationReport

1 Heat capture from challenging environments 1 (Veolia)2 Heat capture from challenging environments 2 (Veolia)3 Greenhouse glass (Royal Pride Sweden)4 Hybrid greenhouse Lighting (Royal Pride Sweden)5 Low-temperature greenhouse heating (Royal Pride Sweden)6 Nutrient Recycling (Vegafish, Veolia, Findus, Söderåsens bioenergi, WA3RM)7 Business and Financing Structure for Regenerative Industry Infrastructure (WA3RM)8 Financial Instruments for Regenerative Industry Infrastructure (WA3RM)

Heatrecyclingfromchallengingenvironments1

• Thechallenge: Heatrecyclingfromwastewaterisapotentiallyvaluableresource.IntheRePro Foodproject,heatfromwastewateratFinduswasidentifiedastheprimaryheatsource.Heatrecyclingformwastewaterischallengingbecauseofsolidmaterialsinthewastewaterstream.IntheFinduscase,thesewerebitsoffoodwaste,rinsedoutintheprocessing.Suchsolidmaterialquicklyclogstheheatexchangersusedtocapturetheheat.Filteringthewasteflowswasnotdeemedtobeviable,duetoprohibitiveoperationscosts.Veolia’staskwastofindatechnicalsolutionforaheatexchangertechnologythatcouldbeusedtocapturetheheat.

• Solution:VeoliaidentifiedaheatexchangersystemnamedSHARCdevelopedbyInternationalWastewaterSystemsinCanada:http://www.sewageheatrecovery.com/.SHARCisspecificallydesignedforuseonsewageflows.Byautomaticallycontinuallyalternatingtheflowofwastewaterthroughtheheatexchanger,SHARCincorporatesacontinualback-flushintotheheatexchangingprocesssothatsolidwastematerialisflushedout.

• Unfortunately,becauseFindusannouncedtheclosureoftheirproductionplantonMarch31,2016,thisinnovationwasneverimplementedinthatenvironment.However,similarchallengesarenotunusualforlow-gradeheatrecycling,andthesolutionwillinalllikelihoodbyapplicableelsewhere.

Heatrecyclingfromchallengingenvironments2

Thechallenge: Veoliainvestigatedheatrecyclingfrom Saint-GobainIsover inBillesholm foruseinafacilityconsistingofa70000m2 greenhouseandafishfarmfor500tonsoffishperyear.Thestudyshowedthattheheatingneedsofthegreenhousewouldvaryconsiderably,duetoclimateconditionscombinedwiththeintermittentuseofgrowlights.Thequalityandquantityoftheavailablewasteheatvariedsignificantly.Themediantemperatureofthewasteheatseemedinitiallyinsufficientfordirectuseforspaceheating.Animportantpartoftheinvestigationwasthereforetotestthelimitsintemperaturetoheatthefacility.

Results:Theresultsshowinsufficientheatfromthesourcetoheattheintendedfacility.Nonetheless,thecasedeliveredcriticalmethodinnovationforheatrecyclingprojects:Thecase:• Demonstratedamethodologyformatchingaheatsourceandheatingneed.• Identifiedupstreamrisksinpotentialefficiencyinvestmentsatthesourcefacility.Demonstratesthepotencyofthemethodforriskmanagement.

• Demonstratedthepotentialofusingsourceheatunder40° tocoversignificantportionsofheatingneeds,asubstantialcontributiontooverallefficiency.

Greenhouseglass• Thechallenge: Greenhouseoutputisfundamentallyconstrainedbytheamountofphotosynthesisthattakesplaceinside.Tomaximisetheuptakeoflighttoplants,thequalityoftheglasshasbeendemonstratedtohaveasignificanteffect.Diffuseglassbreaksuplightandhasbeenshowntoincreaselightuptakeinplants,buthasnotbeentestedforNordicconditions.Atthesametime,heatingcostsareasubstantialchallengeforcompetitivenessandenergyuseforheataffectstheenvironmentalfootprintofoperations.Thechallengeisthereforetofindaglassthatoptimisesproduction.

• Progress:TohaveagoodunderstandingaboutthelighttransmittanceofdiffuseglasswithARcoating(thiscoatingistolimitthereflectionoflightsothatmorelightcomestruetheglass.Weaskedforaindependentmeasurementfor10piecesofglasssuppliedbytheChinesecompany,Hennan Yuhua newmaterialCo.Ltd.Thisreportshowsthattheaveragelightleveloftheglassis96%whichisatleast5%betterthanthestandardofnormalglassusedforgreenhouses.

Low-temperaturegreenhouseheating• Thechallenge: Year-roundproductionmaximisestheusefulnessoftheinfrastructureandcustomervalueandprovidessteady,secureemploymentforhundreds,butrequireslighting.Conventionallightingtechnologyusinghigh-pressuresodiumlamps(hps)andrepresentsasignificantcostforelectricityuse,aswellasanindirectenvironmentalimpact.ExperimentswithLED(lightemittingdiode)lightingshowthat,forhithertounexplainedreasons,fruitgrowthisinhibitedwithLEDlight.Ahybridlightingsystem,comprisedofbothHPSandLEDtechnologycouldprovidecostsavingsandenvironmentalbenefitswithoutlossofproduction.

• Progress:WehiredanenergyadvisingcompanyAAB.NLtomakeareportfortheenergyneedsinLjusdal basedonaverageweatherdataforLjusdal. Basedonthisreportwecalculatedtheinstallationsforheatingandgrowlights.Theconnectionsthatweneedtothegridsandthecommodityamountsforheatandelectricity. Alsobasedonthisdata,wemadeaestimationoftheenergysavingswiththisnewtypeofheatingsystemandhybridgrowlightinstallation.

Hybridgreenhouselighting• Thechallenge: Usingrecycledheattowarmgreenhousesallowsgreenhousegrowingtobecompetitiveincoolclimates,butmuchwasteheatisavailableatlowtemperatures.Beingabletomakeuseofthisheatdirectly,withouttheexpensiveuseofheatpumps,isthereforeanimportantcompetitiveadvantage.Conventionalheatingsystemsforgreenhousesusewarmwatertoconveytheheat,butwiththelowtemperaturedifferencethecapacityforheattransferthroughthepipingmaybeinsufficientoncoldwinterdays.

• Progress:Thisyearwere- investedinatrialcenter intheNetherlandswherewehavegainedvaluableknowledgewhichwecanuseintheTICinSweden. Especiallythetechnicaldevelopmentofthe‘BaOpt’climatesolution,whichmadeitpossibletoworkwithlowtemperaturewasteheat,gaveusveryimportantnewinsightsforfurtherdevelopmentandimplementationofthissystem. Basedonthetrialwedidin2014,andtheresearchreportthatWageningen Universitymadeofthattrial,wewhereabletodesignamorestableinstallationthatalsohelpustobuildataeconomicscale.

NutrientRecyclingThechallenge:Wastewateremissionsandrelatedenvironmentalissuesareamajorbarriertoon-landfishfarming.Evenrecirculationaquaculturesystems(RAS)needtoemitsubstantialwaterquantitiescontinuallyincludinglargeconcentrationsofnutrientswhichotherwisewouldbecometoxictothefish.Thewastenutrientscanbeprofitablyusedasfertiliseringreenhouse,butthisrequirescoordinationofthemanagementofwaterandnutrientflowsbetweenthegreenhouseandthefishfarmandisdependentonthedistributionsystemsfortheseatbothfacilities.Progress:Multipleoptionsfornutrientcaptureandrecyclinghavebeenidentified:• State-of-the-art:TheSwedishUniversityforAgriculturalSciences(SLU)summarisedthestateoftheartofavailableoptionsinaprojectreport.

• Aquaponics:Peckas Naturodlingar havedemonstratedaclosed-loopaquaponic systemwheretheentirewatervolumeofthefishfarmiscirculatedthroughtomatoplantbedsthreetimesdaily,supplyingnutrientstotheplantsandcleanwaterforthefish.

• RASandbioreactor:TheKaldnes®RASfromVeoliaWaterTechnologiesutilizesadrumfiltertoseparatesolidsthatcouldbesuitableforbiogasand/oragriculture.

BusinessandFinancingStructureforRegenerativeIndustryInfrastructure• Status:Complete• Thechallenge: Toputinplacetheindustrial-scalefoodproductioninfrastructurethatisthegoaloftheRePro Foodproject,therequiredinvestmentisinthehundredsofmillionsofSwedishkroner,makingitnecessarytoattractbothloanfinancingandoutsideequityinvestment.Inordertoensurethatthecostofcapitalisaffordable,theriskstoinvestorsmustbemanagedanddescribedcarefully.

• Progress:Abusinessmodelfortheinfrastructureinvestmentshasbeencompleted,andalsoshowstheoperationsofthegreenhouseandfishfarm,clearlydemonstratingexcellentprofitabilityandthereforelowrisktoinvestors.Alegalframeworktogoverntherelationshipsoftheinvolvedpartieshasbeencompleted.

FinancialInstrumentsforRegenerativeIndustryInfrastructure• Status:Preliminaryinvestigations• Thechallenge: Internationalstudiesshowthatbankfinancingforlarge-scalegreenhousesislimitedtobetween50and70percentoftheprojecttotal,meaningthatthatbetween30and50percentoftheneededcapitalmustbesuppliedbyequity,unlessatieroffinancinginbetweencanbeidentified,oftencalledmezzaninefinancing.Althoughtypicallymoreexpensivethanbankloans,mezzaninefinancingwouldstillhaveloweryielddemandsthanequity,therebyimprovingtheeconomicviabilityofthefacility.

• Progress:Twotypesofmezzaninefinancinghavebeenexploredinpreliminaryinvestigations,governmentprogramstosupportsustainabilityinvestmentsandprivateissuesofbonds,wheresocalledgreenbondsandalsoresiliencebondsareofinterest.