Towards a sustainable bio-economy in Colombia:
Vinasse valorisation and bioprocessing
Investigadores Icesi: Guillermo Montoya (PI), Giovanni Rojas (CoI), María Francisca Villegas (CoI)
Over 500.000 liters of vinasse are produced daily in Colombia by sugar and yeast production industries. Due to its application as fertilizer with an unbalanced nutritional composition, it is polluting soils and groundwater sources. Icesi has previously identified and quantified in vinasse aconitic acid (TAA), a biopolymer precursor, although extracting TAA will not substantially change its composition. UCL has been working on fractionating and valorizing UK-based renewable feedstock. Thus, to address this environmental threat we propose a long-term research and training partnership between UCL and Icesi, aiming at: (i) developing a bioprocess strategy for the vinasse resulting in the extraction and use of valuable chemicals and (ii) the production of nutrient-rich digestate and biogas for its use by the Colombian farming community. The above will result in a reduction of environmental pollution, economical valorization of the byproduct, and savings to the sugarcane industry.
Colaboradores: UCL, Anaero Technologies
Financiador: Newton Caldas Research Fund
Fechas: abril 2016 - marzo 2018
Contacto:
Maria Francisca Villegas
Guillermo Montoya