Project Title: A holistic solution for producing tailor-made biochar from woody waste, that encompasses smart and sustainable practices in manure application, leading to air quality improvement and bioeconomy growth
Programme: CO-DEVELOP
Proposal Number: CODEVELOP-REPowerEU/1223/101
Duration: 01/07/2024 – 30/06/2026 (24 months)
Total Funding: € 599,173
Funding Agencies: The project is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the NextGenerationEU instrument, in the frame of the action C6.1I6 «Thematic research and innovation funding program on green transition» of the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Today, municipalities face huge challenges when it comes to managing woody waste from municipal or private activities. A well-known tactic is the collection and disposal in private green areas, that require high costs per disposal, or by simply burning them in controlled or private, uncontrolled places. Studies have revealed that woody waste is an ideal raw material producing biochar, a biobased material that can be used for agricultural purposes. This includes improving soil productivity and health in crops, as well as mitigate VOCs emissions and bad smells from livestock farms due to manure applications.
The project RE-GreenVOCs aims to co-develop scientific and technical approaches for addressing today’s challenges in the agroecosystem of Cyprus, and beyond. One of the largest agricultural regions in Cyprus, Idalion, faces major challenges with regards to the abovementioned issues. Idalion agricultural and livestock zones are experiencing a rapid growth, which makes the overall management cycle a real challenge since (a) large quantities of woody waste must be collected, (b) high operational costs must be spend (c) large number of agricultural plots on which manure is deposited, generate high levels of odorous VOC emissions and pollution. This is even worsened as many farmers ignore compliance with good agricultural practices.
The RE-GreenVOCs project aims to deliver a holistic approach by combining knowledge in (a) municipal woody waste management towards creating the missing framework for incentivizing farmers and municipalities towards adopting green waste practices, (b) converting feedstock into activated-biochar through pyrolysis for reuse in agricultural applications, (c) controlling odorous VOCs emissions from manure, and (d) improving soil sampling collection and air quality analysis using intelligent systems. The project’s implementation relies on the synergistic collaboration of a research enterprise CyRIC Ltd (HO), two academic organizations, UCY (PA1) and OUC (PA2), and Idalion Municipality (PA3).
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Host Organisation (HO)
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Department of Chemistry,
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Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, |
 South Nicosia-Idalion Municipality IM, Partner 3 |
In RE-GreenVOCs, CyRIC plays the central role as the main beneficiary, overseeing the overall project management and coordination, while leading the dissemination and exploitation activities. CyRIC leads several key aspects of the RE-GreenVOCs project. This includes establishing project specifications and unifying requirements, developing intelligent systems to enhance soil sampling collection and air quality analysis, integrating all subsystems, and conducting initial testing in relevant environments. Additionally, CyRIC is responsible for the testing and validation of the RE-GreenVOCs holistic solution in large-scale operational environments, ensuring the project’s successful implementation and operation.
CyRIC’s significant investments include:
- State-of-the-art infrastructure
- High-caliber personnel
- Design and development of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles for search and surveillance applications
Added Value:
The validated project results and the published research and scientific data will help to strengthen the company’s R&D portfolio and bolster its presence within circular economy-compliant technologies, something that the company is currently expanding through internal R&D, as well as in-kind investment technology start-up incubator (Gravity Ventures). While the first could lead to new thematic projects and innovative content of distinct IPR value and generate new job opportunities within its engineering divisions, the latter could assist in developing and incubating new thematic startups crucial for the ongoing development and growth of the Cypriot economy and circular economy start-up ecosystem
Explore the most recent dissemination material created by HARESS.
 Posters |
 Leaflets |
 Publications |
 RE-GreenVOCs workshop |
 Conferences |
 News |