List of Emerging Eco-technologies

This report documents the 'Nutrients and Carbon Reuse Challenge,' an open competition launched by the BONUS RETURN project to identify and support emerging eco-technologies capable of recovering nutrients and carbon in the Baltic Sea Region. The document outlines the competition's criteria, the evaluation process conducted by a panel of experts, and the selection of three winning technologies—Biophree, TerraNovaUltra, and Ravita—to enter a pre-commercialization process.

• The BONUS RETURN project aims to improve the adoption of eco-technologies in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) to address the degradation of the Baltic Sea, specifically targeting the reduction of eutrophication and pollution flows. The project focuses on technologies that can turn nutrients and carbon into benefits, such as fertilizers and bio-energy, while reconciling environmental goals with food and energy security.
• The 'Nutrients and Carbon Reuse Challenge' was an open competition launched in December 2017 to attract eco-technologies that could reuse nutrients and carbon. To be eligible, technologies had to address nutrient or carbon reuse from wastewater or agricultural sectors, be applicable in the Baltic Sea environment, and have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5 or higher.
• Out of 13 submitted applications, three winners were selected to participate in the project's pre-commercialization process: Biophree, TerraNovaUltra, and Ravita. These winners were chosen based on evaluations of their relevance, sustainability, market potential, and expected impact.
• The winning technology Biophree uses ion exchange and adsorption to remove phosphorus from water, recovering it as dissolved phosphate for fertilizer production. It has a TRL of 6-7 for phosphorus removal and a TRL of 5 for phosphate recovery.
• The winning technology TerraNovaUltra employs Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) to treat wastewater sludge, producing bio coal for fuel and recovering phosphorus as struvite and apatite. While bio coal production is at TRL 9, the recovery of phosphorus as struvite and apatite is at TRL 5.
• The winning technology Ravita recovers phosphorus as phosphorus acid from sludge using a patented separation process. The technology's sludge dewatering is at TRL 5, while the recovery of phosphorus acid is at TRL 3, with plans for installation in a pilot plant during 2018.
• The project identifies several common challenges for these eco-technologies, including the need to reduce or justify high costs, the presence of contaminants in the recovered phosphorus products, and the difficulty of finding interested customers for both the technology and the resulting products.

APA

Barquet, K., Ochola, B., & Lundh, M. (2018). List of Emerging Eco-technologies. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/list-of-ecotechnologies.pdf

Chicago

Barquet, Karina, Brenda Ochola, and Måns Lundh. List of Emerging Eco-technologies. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2018. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/list-of-ecotechnologies.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Barquet |first1=Karina |last2=Ochola |first2=Brenda |last3=Lundh |first3=Måns |title=List of Emerging Eco-technologies |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=28 June 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/list-of-ecotechnologies.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barquet2018list, author = {Barquet, Karina and Ochola, Brenda and Lundh, Måns}, title = {{List of Emerging Eco-technologies}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/list-of-ecotechnologies.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }