English Version

Two of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the coming decades will be how to feed an increasing global population whilst at the same time urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Particularly when almost all modern farming techniques are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and consume vast quantities of energy for transport. One of the immediate changes that needs to be made is to reduce food wastage (currently contributing 3.3gigatones of CO2 equivalent per year). The cosmetic constraints for perfect looking produce demanded by modern consumers and retailers is leading to one third of European harvests to be left rotting in the fields whilst other produced is shipped half way round the world to meet the ever growing demands. Our solution, while not yet targeting what people eat at home, can at least cut this waste substantially by supplying mass catering institutions with a fresh, local and cost efficient alternative, by processing the cosmetically imperfect, but otherwise perfectly good local produce. At the same time, we are complementing this with educational activities within the local communities to increase awareness about sustainable consumption habits. Within 20 mins transport of our base, we have direct access to 5,000 tons of vegetables and can supply 1 million meals per year. The next step is the implementation of waste-to-energy system which will enable us to be energy self-sufficient and also provide a new bio-waste service for the local communities leading to the supply of energy back into the local grid.