BIOREFINERY

About the world of biorefinery

Biorefinery

In biorefining, green raw materials are processed into new, high-quality products: different components are separated that have a higher value separately. For example, biorefining makes it possible to produce proteins from grass, among other things, available for various purposes. And that offers many benefits for the environment, for the agricultural sector and for the local economy.

How?

An important part of the Dutch agricultural area consists of grassland. That grass is largely intended for cows, the only ones who can digest this grass with their multiple stomachs. Mono-gastric animals, such as pigs, chickens and humans, cannot and they need to fulfill their protein needs differently. Pigs, for example, receive high-quality proteins mainly in the form of soy meal, which is imported from Latin America. Grass protein has a similar composition to soy meal and is therefore an excellent soy substitute if it is processed properly: with biorefinery.

In addition to grass, other green crops are also suitable for biorefining, such as beanplants, sugar beet and tomato leaves, vegetable processing residues such as broccoli stems and invasive aquatic plants such as the large pennywort or hyacinths. These green raw materials, which are usually seen as waste, can also become excellent sources of protein.

How are proteins extracted?

In biorefining, the green raw material, for example grass, is first crushed and pressed; the juice is separated from the fibers. The fibers, with part of the proteins present in the grass and very suitable for cows, can be packed airtight, so that they are preserved as silage. Part of the nutrients are part of the juice. These are proteins, sugars and minerals. The juice can be further processed by separating and concentrating its proteins. We name the liquid that remains the “whey”, by analogy with the milk industry. The “whey” can also undergo further treatment. Phosphate is still in the solution and can be removed. The low-phosphate residue is then separated into a sugar-rich fraction, a mineral-rich fraction and clean water.

Advantages

GRASSA ensures the upgrading of green raw materials and a more robust income for farmers and horticulturists

With biorefining it is possible to feed the same amount of grass to more animals, or even make it suitable for human consumption. Farmers with grassland or gardeners with green residual flows become local suppliers of pig and poultry feed and raw materials for the production of meat substitutes for humans. GRASSA’S grass refining will increase grassland animal protein production by at least 50.

GRASSA! reduces greenhouse gases and helps to solve the manure surplus

Part of the protein that cows take in when eating grass they cannot use. A cow converts unused proteins into ammonia and nitrogen, which ends up in the air and groundwater through farming and manure. This is very harmful to the environment. Thanks to grass refining, the cow only receives proteins that are effectively used. For example, the nitrogen content in the cow manure decreases and we also reduce the harmful greenhouse gases in the air.

GRASSA reduces the impact on the environment of soy and animal feed

The existing animal feed industry has a major environmental impact, due to the harvesting of rainforest in Latin America for growing soy and transporting it to other parts of the world. Biorefining makes it possible to replace soy, thereby limiting large-scale imports. GRASSA works on a small scale and locally and has a small footprint. Agricultural land currently used for soy can be used for other purposes or returned to nature.

Grassa products

The GRASSA refining process produces the following products as standard:

GRASSA Protein Fiber

Grass protein-fiber is formed by the compressed fibers that remain after the first separation process. It contains enough useful proteins for the cow. The poorly usable proteins have been removed, which the cow does not have to digest.

 

 

 

 

 

GRASSA Grass protein concentrate

From the juice, GRASSA extracts a protein concentrate. This grass protein concentrate, a product for chickens, pigs, fish or pets among others, is dry, sustainable and suitable as a soy meal. replacement..

 

 

 

 

 

GRASSA! FOS

GRASSA has developed a process to isolate the sugars from the whey, that for a large part consist of Fructose Oligo Saccharides (FOS), a soluble dietary fiber that can improve gut health in food for young lifestock humans and pets. GRASSA has patented the process to isolate protein fiber, protein concentrate and Fos from grass.

 

 

 

 

 

GRASSA! Minerals Concentrate

The mineral concentrate, obtained from the whey by the GRASSA biorefining technology, is a mixture of minerals and free amino acids. Mineral concentrate is a valuable soluble plant-based organic fertilizer, rich in potassium and nitrogen. It can be used as a plant-based fertilizer in organic vegetable production.