In cooperation with its partners AGRI 2000 NET, RE-CORD e Teraglobus*, the Versalis NATURAL POWER LIFE project has obtained funding from the European Union LIFE Programme to support strategic nature, environment and climate projects that can contribute to implementation of the European Green Deal, including, amongst others, achievement of net zero by 2050, the Circular Economy Action Plan, energy transition, etc.
The funding provided by the LIFE Programme means that businesses can count on substantial support in bringing to market products, technology or innovative services offering clear environmental sustainability benefits in the fields of waste management, circular economy, resource efficiency and climate change mitigation. Such schemes originate from state-of-the-art technical and commercial solutions that will experience an industrial and commercial scale-up as the project is implemented or immediately after its completion.
The Versalis NATURAL POWER LIFE project aims to replace conventional herbicides and biocides with more sustainable pelargonic-acid-based products with a lower environmental impact obtained from renewable feedstock (vegetable oil). In particular, we aim to extend to the European market two broad-spectrum herbicides based on pelargonic acid: one for weed control in urban and industrial areas, more specifically a product marketed under the Sunpower® brand, already available in Italy and with trialling in various sectors at an advanced stage, and one for agricultural activities; at the same time, we are working on a new broad-spectrum-biocide formulation, once again pelargonic-acid-based;
For long-term sustainability of our products, with NATURAL POWER LIFE we want to:
- demonstrate its applicability in various geographical areas and on new crops.
- assess its sustainability, not just environmental, but also economic and social.
- raise stakeholder awareness of the opportunities that our products offer along the value chain at all levels (from farmers to local councils and the general public) and guide the way to obtaining maximum benefit from the results of the entire project at some future time.
*AGRI 2000 NET, Italian company producing services and solutions for agricultural input businesses, agricultural supply chains and green space managers. As part of the Natural Power Life project, it will be trialling the herbicide’s use in agriculture, both in Italy and other European countries. To this end, TeraGlobus, a Lithuanian agency, will be providing communication and dissemination services throughout the project.
RE-CORD, a private/public non-profit research and development organisation with a reputation for excellence in research and demonstration and the fields of renewable energy, biomass, bioenergy and the bioeconomy, will be conducting a series of trials, once again linked to the herbicide, in Italian municipalities and industrial sites.
