Action C.1: Performance indicators monitoring
The environmental performance of PNFR technology was corroborated in terms of both the reuse/recycling of the treated effluents within the processes of the fruit packaging plant (water savings), as well as the carbon footprint from the operation of the pilot unit. To this purpose ZAGORIN collected accurate data during the monitoring of waste reduction, water saving and better use of water resources.
In addition, all parameters affecting the carbon footprint of the pilot unit were determined and assembled into an appropriate algorithm. These parameters consisted of 2 groups:
The direct (operational) parameters, e.g. electricity consumption etc.
The indirect parameters (management) parameters, e.g. fresh water saving, wastewater concentrate final management, etc.
Deliverables
D-C1.1: First PNFR Carbon Footprint Report
The current Deliverable presents the calculation of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of:
-The initial state (baseline) in ZAGORIN’s industrial facility regarding the management of the produced wastewater.
-The wastewater management in ZAGORIN after the application of the PNFR pilot plant, which was designed and developed within the context of the LIFE PureAgroH2O project.
Scope of the Report is to analyze the climatic performance of the PNFR technology and to extract conclusions whether its application leads to reduction of the carbon footprint of the practices applied for the management of the produced wastewater.
Furthermore, analysis is performed regarding the water footprint of the PNFR technology in respect to the degree that water recycling can be achieved, incorporating by this way a more environmentally friendly operation of ZAGORIN’s industrial facility.
Delivery Date: 30/04/2022
D-C1.2: First PNFR Report on effluents Reuse/Recycling
This Deliverable constitutes the first report on the monitoring process of the project regarding the environmental performance of the PNFR technology connected to the reuse/recycling of the treated effluents within the processes of the fruit packaging plant of ZAGORIN (water savings). Since the first operation trial of the PNFR reactor in October 2022, thanks to the developed data logging software, we have collected accurate data during all the PNFR experimental campaigns such as, the operation period and load of the pump driving the treated water to the fruit washing process, the operation period and load of the pump driving the water effluent to the PNFR process and the period of operation of the PNFR process under LEDs irradiation. Other key parameters that were monitored include the permeability of the photocatalytic monoliths, the pressure drop across the monoliths (transmembrane pressure), the pure water recovery, the required frequency of cleaning the monoliths and the amount of fresh water needed in each cleaning. These factors allowed us to not only monitor the clean water productivity but also to evaluate the operational cost OPEX and long-term sustainability of the PNFR process. In this first report on effluents reuse/recycling we present the analysis on the data collected in the years 2022 and 2023, though operating the reactor in partial load capacity due to technical problems that still existed in this period. The final PNFR Report on effluents Reuse/Recycling (D-C1.4) presents the analysis of the data collected in the last year of operation within the project (2024), under higher load which approached the maximum. As such the final report contains the overall assessment of the environmental performance of the PNFR technology regarding the reuse/recycling of the treated effluents within the facilities of ZAGORIN.
As an overall output of these first 2 years of operational trials (2022-2023), the reactor has been operated for 22 days in total (147 hrs) and has achieved to treat and make appropriate for reuse, 22 m3 of wastewater. The total amount of pesticides removed was 23.7 mg. As such it was possible to calculate a performance indicator of the PNFR as the amount of pesticides removed per cubic meter of treated water. This was 1.73 mg/m3 for 2022 and 0.86 mg/m3 for 2023, with the drop attributed to the bad quality of wastewater treated in 2023. This indicator gives us the capacity to extrapolate and calculate the total amount of pesticides that can be removed each year and the total amount of effluents reused when the reactor operates for 200 days at full load capacity. The projected numbers are 2500 m3 of reused water and 4.3 kg of avoided pesticides.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-C1.3: PNFR carbon footprint final report
The current Deliverable presents the calculation of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of i) the current state (baseline) in ZAGORIN’s industrial facility regarding the management of the produced wastewater, ii) the treatment of ZAGORIN’s wastewater by the PNFR pilot plant as it was finally designed and optimized within the context of the LIFE PureAgroH2O project.
Actually, the chapter of the current document regarding the baseline Carbon Footprint is the same as the respective chapter of Deliverable D-C1.1, but it was maintained in the current document for comparison reasons (baseline vs final PNFR) as well as offering to the reader all the final information and data in one Report.
Scope of the document is to analyze the climatic performance of the final PNFR technology as it was optimized after a series of trial operations within the LIFE PureAgroH2O project and to extract conclusions whether its application eventually leads to reduction of the carbon footprint of the practices currently applied for the management of wastewater produced in ZAGORIN by the applied procedure of apples processing.
Furthermore, analysis is performed regarding the water footprint of the final PNFR technology in respect to the degree that water recycling is achieved, incorporating in this way a more environmentally friendly operation of ZAGORIN’s industrial facility.
Within the context of Action C.1, the environmental performance of the developed PNFR technology regarding the management of Zagorin’s wastewater, in terms of Carbon and Water Footprint, was calculated. More specifically, both footprints were calculated for the pre- (baseline) and after-PNFR phases in order to conclude to comparative results. The overall analysis indicated that the developed PNFR technology is capable of treating efficiently the wastewater produced by the apples processing procedures, achieving at the same time a considerably better environmental performance of the wastewater management process in terms of Carbon and Water Footprint. The only boundary currently existing is the restriction by the Hellenic legislation regarding the ability to use reclaimed wastewater in the production procedure of industries processing agricultural products to produce food although the PNFR treated effluent (permeate) mainly is in compliance (this will be further improved during the scale-up phase by applying appropriate modifications in the design of the structure and capacity of the PNFR system) with the quality standards set by the EU legislation for water intended for human consumption.
Delivery Date: 31/10/2024
D-C1.4: Final PNFR report on effluents reuse/recycling
This Deliverable constitutes the final report on the monitoring process of the project regarding the environmental performance of the PNFR technology connected to the reuse/recycling of the treated effluents within the processes of the fruit packaging plant of ZAGORIN (water savings).
The results of the first two years of operation (2022 and 2023), reported in Deliverable D-C1.2, were limited to a total operation of 22 days (147 hours) that achieved the recycling of about 22 m3 of wastewater. Despite the important conclusions regarding the performance in the abatement of pesticides and the stability of the water permeability factor of the novel membranes, the overall output was not sufficient to constitute the basis for reliably extrapolating the results and calculating the achieved KPIs. The KPIs are relevant to the total amount of water that can be saved and the total amount of pesticides avoided (not released to the environment through a WWT plant) for 1-2 years of full operation.
On the contrary, the results included in this final report are closer to the final application and pertain to the operation of the PNFR system within 2024. The sampling campaigns of 2024 were more frequent. Accordingly, the total days of operation before and after each sampling campaign sum up to 37 and the total operational hours to about 400. Moreover, since most of the technical problems had already been solved the reactor could be operated at higher load capacities (higher than 30% of the full load) and as a result, the total amount of treated water was more than 200 m3.
As an overall output of the operational trials within 2024, the reactor has achieved to treat and make appropriate for reuse 203 m3 of wastewater. The total amount of pesticides removed was 600.5 mg. As such it was possible to calculate a performance indicator of the PNFR as the amount of pesticides removed per cubic meter of treated water. This was 2.96 mg/m3. This indicator gives us the capacity to extrapolate and calculate the total amount of pesticides that can be removed each year and the total amount of effluents reused when the reactor operates for 288 days at full load capacity.
It should be noted that every 150 m3 of treated water the membranes require cleaning, which entails a freshwater expense of 1.6 m3. This means that from the 4,320 m3 of treated water about 50 m3 will be spent on cleaning. So, the net amount of water saved annually is 4,270 m3. Furthermore, about 43 m3 of water will be left in the priming tank as waste for disposal. Therefore, the annual waste generated by the PNFR system is about 93 m3
Delivery Date: 31/10/2024
Action C.2 Socioeconomic impact of the project
The overall goal of the Socio-Economic Impacts Assessment was to monitor the socioeconomic impact of the project at meso- and macro- level (in addition to the economic performance of the innovative solution as a single unit compared to already-existing solutions). The beneficiaries considered the economic effects of this innovation when: a) is applied in a systemic way to the fruits and vegetables processing (FVP) industry and b) is scaled at regional level considering also other possible applications. This analysis was not limited to the economic benefits for the FVP industry, but also included the benefits for the overall society, for example those derived by a reduction in water pollution and addressing water scarcity at local level with the related consequences in terms of health-related costs, prosperity of water availability depending activities (tourism and primary production at the regional level), regional attractiveness, improved quality of life for their inhabitants, etc.
Deliverables
D-C2.1: Socio-economic impact assessment methodology
The main objective of the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment was to monitor the impact of the LIFE PureAgroH20 program on a medium- and macro- level (in addition to the cost-effectiveness of the innovative solution individually, compared to the technologies available). This analysis was not constrained to the economic benefits of the new technology, however, the social benefits of reducing – avoiding water pollution and addressing water scarcity at local level, as well as the consequent effects on cost effectiveness were particularly considered.
Particular cost-drivers of interest involved those related to health, development of activities that depend on water availability (tourism, rural-primary production), improvement of the quality of life of local communities etc. In order to achieve this goal, the approach for the socioeconomic assessment built upon two axes: ‘Approach and development of communication with stakeholders’ and ‘Analysis of the attitudes, preferences and views of stakeholders and promotion of the adoption of the new technology’.
Key audiences and stakeholders were identified, but this initial list was supplemented with information derived during the implementation of the Action. The methodological framework comprised of four steps (Literature review and on-desk analysis; Qualitative analysis of the needs and attitudes of stakeholders; Assessment of attitudes and perceptions of agribusiness actors (quantitative analysis); Elaboration and assessment of real-life scenarios of technology implementation).
The analysis combined established tools to collect primary qualitative and quantitative data (e.g. in-person interviews, focus groups, literature review) which was analyzed by means of statistical methods. The expected key outcome was a set of scenarios of technology adoption, which lead to the design of specific strategies to approach market segments and preceding solutions tailor-made for various potential end-users.
Delivery Date: 30/04/2019
D-C2.2: Socio-economic impact assessment report
Action C2 comprised two sub-actions, one focusing on the impact of the LIFE PureAgroH2O technology on agribusiness and one (smaller) on the opinions and attitudes of growers. This Deliverable presents the findings of the former part of the analysis. The methodological approach comprised a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods with a view to understand the prospects of key actors but also to generate rich and meaningful insights into their expectations with regards to sustainable wastewater management and from the technology, in particular.
Actions were held in Greece and Spain based on protocols (questionnaires, scripts and templates) elaborated by Sympraxis Team. The main finding was that the intensity of water scarcity and the size and structure of agribusinesses affect their decision regarding investments on wastewater management. Key factors that agribusinesses take into consideration in the decision-making are the relevant costs to invest in and maintain a technology but also its ability to operate effectively with existing infrastructure. To finance such investments, agribusinesses proclaim primarily the use of conventional funding mechanisms such as financing schemes and low-interest loans. Last but not least, agribusinesses (regardless of size) consider low footprints and low pollution technologies as the most important elements to support environmental-friendly profiles, as well as work, research and investments on circular economy.
Combining the results of qualitative and quantitative methods, a stakeholder analysis showed that (agro-)industries and water authorities are the key stakeholders, while a multitude of secondary stakeholders – including public administration, retailers, growers and the public – was also identified. They were grouped into four cohorts according to their power/influence and interest on the technology and strategies to approach them were defined according to this grouping and considering three future scenarios (Business as Usual; Increased climate challenges; Market and policy pressures).
While each group requires targeted approaches, attention was focused on the ones included in the “To satisfy” and “Careful approach” groups, which have higher influence and can therefore affect future upscaling of the technology. All these findings were consolidated in a SWOT analysis where the key characteristics of the technology were categorized as strengths that can support future upscaling and implementation if weaknesses such as finding effective ways for wastewater pre-treatment prior to the use of the reactor and lack high costs to operate for more centralized used are tackled. In the external environment, climate change and strict legislation were the most important threats, although a multitude of opportunities in the fields of research and development of low-cost materials and membranes as well as on exploring ways to combine existing and possible future technologies.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
D-C2.3: Growers survey report
As part of the socioeconomic analysis of the LIFE PureAgroH2O project, the opinions of growers were also investigated with regards to the implementation of the new water purification system. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey that was undertaken both in Greece and Spain using the same survey instrument (questionnaire). The results of the descriptive analysis indicate that growers are highly concerned about the mitigation of climate change effects and their adaptation to extreme weather events and water scarcity. As a result, they seem to increasingly adopt water saving techniques in their farms, they consider the use of non-conventional water as a solution and highly support possible investments from their Cooperatives on sustainable wastewater management.
Delivery Date: 31/12/2024
For further information please contact Dr Emilia Markellou (e.markellou@bpi.gr)