Green Valleys 2.0

Green Valley's aim is to promote a circular production of green protein in the West Götaland region and to create new circular business opportunities for the agricultural industry. Today, we face major challenges in terms of self-sufficiency and our dependence on imports of feed, fertilizers and energy. The demand for plant protein has increased significantly in recent years, requiring alternative and more sustainable production methods. Green biorefining of grasses and clover is a very promising solution to produce a high-value green protein. The solution is based on using and further processing the residual streams from the production of the green protein, which increases the chances of it becoming an economically sustainable alternative to imported plant protein.

From the production of fiber protein, there will be a residual product, a press cake, and the project will also be about finding functional solutions for using it. The project will look at the possibility of seeing if it can serve as feed for other animals, but also if it can be used for the production of biochar or see if it can be used in the production of textiles.

Objectives of the project:

The overall objective of Green Valleys is to promote a circular production of green protein in the West Götaland region and to create new circular business opportunities for the agricultural industry.

A further objective of the project is for local companies or collaborative initiatives to develop the basis for decisions to invest in the system solution. The project also aims to increase cooperation between Denmark, Sweden and to some extent Norway in order to benefit from each other's knowledge to solve the common food security challenges we face.

What is the role of Wargön Innovation?

For every kilo of green protein produced in the existing system solution, 45 kilos of the fiber-rich residual product press cake is produced. If grass protein is to replace large parts of our soy imports, huge amounts of press cake will be produced, so it is important to find good uses for them.

This is where Wargön Innovation comes in. Together with several other actors, we will look at the possibility of using press cake, which is a cellulose material, in the production of textiles. Cellulose fibers are already used in the manufacture of textiles in the form of viscose, but then the raw material comes from the forest instead. Being able to use the residual product is an important aspect and another possible source of income for farmers, while helping to solve the textile industry's problems with high emissions from production.