ASCENZA Leads Tec4Green Consortium for Agricultural Innovation
ASCENZA leads the Tec4Green consortium, which involves 17 strategic partnerships, including nine companies, four non-business entities from the research and development (R&D) system, three business associations and a collaborative laboratory. This consortium is part of the TEC4GREEN Mobilising Agenda of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), promoted by the Portuguese government, which has funding of 49 million euros.
The Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) is one of the organisations involved and is leading one of the key work packages through a multidisciplinary team of 30 researchers. These researchers come from the Centre for Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability (CERES), the Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE-UC) and the Centre for Chemistry-Molecular Physics (QFM-UC).
Tec4Green's main objective is to develop a new generation of biological products for the protection and nutrition of agricultural crops, based on the circular bioeconomy. This consortium's agenda also aims to promote the demonstration of Digital Agriculture technologies for Precision Agriculture and Agricultural Decarbonisation, as well as to treat, reuse and valorise water streams and agricultural and agro-industrial by-products for the production of green energy.
According to Hermínio Sousa, professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering (DEQ) and researcher at CERES, "this agenda aims to prepare the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors for future environmental, technological and energy challenges, minimising the environmental impact (on the soil, water and atmosphere) and promoting the economic sustainability of these sectors".
FCTUC's role
The activities developed by FCTUC are focused on using and valorising agricultural and agro-industrial waste and by-products to produce biogas and safer and more sustainable plant protection products. "The idea is to use more efficient and environmentally friendly extraction, separation and formulation techniques. The formulated products will be tested for their efficacy, safety and ecotoxicity. In addition, we will develop and apply innovative methods for the treatment, recycling and reuse of solvents and the water streams involved in the different processes used," explains the project coordinator at the university.
In addition to the scientific advances and potential new products resulting from the TEC4GREEN Agenda, this project will also contribute to the creation of a more robust technical-scientific infrastructure at the University of Coimbra, enabling R&D activities to be carried out in the areas of extraction, separation and processing of natural products and biomass, biogas production, and the treatment and recycling of water and solvents.
About ASCENZA:
ASCENZA is a leading company in the agricultural sector, dedicated to the production of crop protection products. With the leadership of the Tec4Green consortium, it reaffirms its commitment to the development of advanced technological solutions for the future of agriculture, dedicated to innovation and sustainability.