On the last 23^th of April, the DEMETER consortium has been hosted by the partner Organic Waste Systems NV in Gent, Belgium, for the project meeting at month 18. The European project is aiming at demonstrating an increase of Biogas production through the addition of new enzymes developed by Genencor International BV (part of Dupont Industrial Biosciences Group), the coordinator of the project.

The progress and the results achieved during the first 18 months of the activities have been presented, with special focus on the improvement of the fermentation process for enzyme production at pilot scale (in 1500L-scale fermenters, 35% more protein has been produced and the recovery has been improved to >90%).

Moreover, the results for wet biogas fermentation processes and the long-term effect of the enzyme on different types of organic waste materials have been discussed as well as the methods for testing the enzyme effects in full-scale biogas plants. Also, the preliminary market analysis and techno-economic evaluation have been discussed. 

For more information about the project, please visit: http://www.demeter-eu-project.eu/