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REDWine

INCREASING MICROALGAE BIOMASS FEEDSTOCK BY VALORIZING WINE GASEOUS AND LIQUID RESIDUES

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Project details

Type of project
Innovation Action - Demonstration
Project focus
Food, feed & cosmetics
Feedstock origin
Biogenic gaseous carbon
Feedstock type
Food industry sidestreams
Project period
1 May 2021 - 31 December 2025
Status
Completed
CBE JU Contribution
€ 5 676 744,00
Call identifier
H2020-BBI-JTI-2020

Summary

The European wine industry is under pressure to cut emissions, reduce additives and operate more sustainably, while remaining economically competitive. The REDWine project took up the challenge with a demonstrator that helps transform two major winery waste streams – CO₂ emissions and liquid effluents – into bio-based products.

Fermenting grapes for wine produces CO₂, which together with other gasses forms the so-called off-gas. The REDWine project demonstrated the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of using off-gas and liquid effluent, wastewater produced during wine-making, to cultivate Chlorella vulgaris, a versatile microalgae species. The microalgae biomass can be processed into proteins, lipids, pigments and bioactive compounds, with applications in agriculture, cosmetics, food and in winemaking itself, where algae-based ingredients can replace sulphites as preservatives.

The project’s primary innovation is an integrated system that captures, purifies and liquefies CO₂ released during fermentation, and stores it for reuse. REDWine successfully tested the system under real operation conditions in its demonstration site in Palmela, Portugal, where it recovered two tonnes of CO₂ per year. The project estimates that its system can achieve more than a 30 % reduction in the carbon footprint across the wine value chain.

It also generates a new revenue stream for the wine producers. The project developed and tested three complementary business models ranging from fully individual system integrated in the winery to a cooperative with a centralised shared facility. With a strong potential for replication in the European wine regions, REDWine estimates a €3.55 billion market for microalgae-derived ingredients.

Source: CORDIS

  • Core focus: capture and reuse CO₂ from wine fermentation to produce microalgae biomass and create value from it. 
  • Circular business model: stimulate new opportunities in the microalgae fermentation sector and create new jobs in rural areas, estimated to as many as 11,000 direct opportunities in Europe, many of which beyond seasonal jobs.
  • Revenue diversification: enable wine producers to generate additional income by processing microalgae biomass into high-value ingredients and products.
  • Living lab demonstrator: establish an integrated facility to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of the model.
  • CO₂ and effluent collection and storage: capture and store the off-gas and liquid effluents from a 20,000 L wine fermenter.
  • Cultivation and harvesting: adapt the system to microalgae cultivation, using energy-efficient harvesting technologies. 
  • CO₂ value creation target: use 90% of the CO₂ collected to produce biomass.

Results

  • CO₂ recovery system: Captured, purified, liquefied and stored CO₂ from fermentation for reuse, recovering two tonnes per year at the Palmela demonstration site in Portugal.
  • Microalgae cultivation: Used the recovered CO₂ and winery wastewater to grow Chlorella vulgaris in flat-panel, tubular and AI-controlled photobioreactors.
  • High-value ingredients: Processed the biomass into proteins, lipids, pigments and bioactive compounds.
  • Three business models: Tested winery-integrated, centralised biorefinery and cooperative bio-hub, with a staged commercialisation pathway.

Impacts

  • Environmental: Reduces the carbon footprint across the wine value chain by an estimated 30% or more.
  • Economic: Diversifies winery income through microalgae biomass, bioactive ingredients, captured CO₂ and premium sustainable wines, within an estimated EUR 3.55 billion addressable market.
  • Social: Creates skilled jobs in rural wine regions and enables smaller wineries to participate through the bio-hub model.
  • Replication: Offers strong potential across winemaking regions in Europe, supporting a continent-wide bio-based model.

Consortium map

Project coordination

  • AVIPE-ASSOCIACAO DE VITICULTORES DO CONCELHO DE PALMELA Palmela, Portugal

Consortium

  • NOVIS GMBH Tubingen, Germany
  • PERVATECH BV RIJSSEN, Netherlands
  • ALGAMA PARIS, France
  • LIPOTEC SA Gava Barcelona, Spain
  • COLDEP DEVELOPPEMENT Lattes, France
  • Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia I.P. S.Mamede De Infesta, Portugal
  • IDENER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AIE SEVILLA, Spain
  • HIDROQUIMIA TRACTAMENTS I QUIMICA INDUSTRIAL SLU TERRASSA, Spain
  • A4F ALGA FUEL SA Lisboa, Portugal
  • Universidade Politecnica de Setubal Setubal, Portugal
  • INNOVATION COMMERCIAL PATHWAYS COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE KILLARNEY, Ireland
  • ACONDICIONAMIENTO TARRASENSE ASSOCIACION Terrassa, Spain