The world’s population grows and so does the need to feed billions of people. That means that more food needs to be cultivated and therefore the use of fertilizer will increase significantly, too.
The journalist at Financial Times Anna Gross explored innovative French companies that could reduce our reliance on artificial fertilizers by offering bio-based options. One of those companies was AFFTER-BIOCHEM’s project partner AFYREN. Anna Gross met Nicolas Sordet, CEO & CO-Founder of AFYREN in Lyon. Nicolas Sordet said in the interview: “We don’t have any waste at the end of the process, we don’t consume any water, and we will massively reduce CO2-emissions.”
The AFTER-BIOCHEM project is dedicated to the construction of first of its kind flagship biorefinery. From next year on it will produce organic acids in industrial quantities at its first commercial plant in North-Eastern France. Working with local sugar beets farmers, the joint-venture AFYREN NEOXY says, using its circular model, the carbon footprint of its acids will be 81% lower than existing petro-based equivalents and will produce a valuable coproduct: an organic fertilizer.
During the interview with the FT journalist, Nicolas Sordet explained: “At the end of the process, we have a residue, which is a high-value fertilizer with a very high potassium content, which will go back to the ground to start a new cycle of biomass production.”
