Business project
“Waste to Energy” is a newly-formed company that develops and installs treatment plants for waster water from farms, holiday farms and biogas plants. The company’s activity will also be aimed at the production of biomass by exploiting the heterotrophic growth of microalgae (biomass) (1) for a successive fermentation aimed at the production of biogas (2) and (3). The fundamental objective of the project will be the creation of a network of operators that shares this technology for the purpose of optimising the use and the management of the plant itself. In particular, the company will deal with the design and sale of the single plants together with the research of producers and suppliers.
Technical content
The plants offer the possibility of treating waste water and producing microalgae (biomass), guaranteeing a greater output than technologies currently available on the market and digging new roads into research on biofuels. In detail: a 1 hectare plant produces approximately 90 tonnes of biomass/year at a market price of 40€/ton (2) and the output of biogas is approximately 350m3/ton of biomass (2).
(1) Cultivation of Green Algae Chlorella sp. in Different Wastewaters from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. (2009). Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology , 1174-1186.
(2) Collet, P., Hélias, A., Lardon, L., Ras, M., A., G. R., & Steyer, J. C. (2011). Life-cycle assessment of microalgae culture coupled to biogas production. Bioresource Technology , 207-214.
(3) Mussgnug, J., Klassen, V., Schlüte, A., & Kruse, O. (2010). Microalgae as substrates for fermentative biogas production in a combined biorefinery concept. Journal of Biotechnology , 51-56.
(4) Chisti, Y. (2007). Biodiesel from microalgae. Biotechnoly advances , 294-306.
Final outlet market and products
Today in the market there are two types of client potentially interested in installing such a technology: farm breeders that wish to design new treatment plants, and farm breeders that wish to modernize their currently obsolete plants. Based on the recent report on renewable energy (March 2013) of the Energy & Strategy Group of the Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan), the agricultural biogas market in Italy has shown a constant yearly growth of 50% over the last three years, an increase that can also avail of the state incentives granted to small to medium size plants. This technology is proposed today as an “environmentally friendly” solution but it will become indispensable in the field of wastewater treatment in light of the tightening up of the European Nitrates Directive with 2015 as the target date.
Financial data
Investment: between 100,000 and 200,000 euro for equity shares to be defined.
Marginality (EBITDA) in line with the average of the agricultural biogas sector for the planning and installation of plants: 10%
Founders and key persons involved
Ing. Michele Z., Dr. Marco L. , Dr. Alberto T.
For more information write to: info@metcompany.eu
Disclaimer
This document is a brief presentation of a possible private business venture. It does not in any way commit MET Company S.r.l. and is not intended to solicit investments. MET Company Srl is prepared to put all detailed economical and technical documents required for further examination at the disposal of interested parties subject to the signing of an NDA.