Investigadores Icesi: María Francisca Villegas (PI), Guillermo Montoya (CoI)

Colaboradores: Hugo Restrepo y CIA S.A.

Colombia is at a critical point in history where social welfare must be its priority, as strengthening it at all levels will translate into a long lasting peace. One of the segments that has been highly affected by the war was the agricultural sector resulting in extensive areas with unexploited and underexploited agricultural potential. Thus, to improve social welfare in this segment environmental protection and economic opportunities must be reinforced. In the current project we are aiming at developing a low cost valorization strategy of residual biomass to produce biofertilizers, biogas and high value molecules to be implemented by small companies and farmers, who will directly benefit from increasing their revenue streams through generation of energy, high value molecules, and improved organic fertilizers (improving soil quality and crop productivity). Through the project, we will develop a modular AD system that can be easily assembled, controlled and operated. Furthermore, this work will increase our understanding of the microbial communities involved in AD as well as the correlation to starting substrate to achieve a highly efficient and productive system based on the in-depth optimization studies. We will also reinforce the development of a Colombian bioeconomy by extracting high value chemicals from renewable resources that can be employed by alternative industries. In summary this project will develop environmentally friendly, productive and efficient bioprocessing technologies that will benefit the agricultural sector by giving value added to renewable resources.

Financiador: Minciencias convocatoria 745-2016

Fechas: marzo 2017 - marzo 2022

Contacto:

Maria Francisca Villegas

mfvillegas@icesi.edu.co

Guillermo Montoya

glmontoya@icesi.edu.co