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Portugal selected by 350ppm Biotech as their new hub


Portugal selected by 350ppm Biotech as their new hub - portugalbusinessesnews.com
Portugal selected by 350ppm Biotech as their new hub - Portugal Business News

Portugal will be the new hub for 350ppm Biotech to build the world’s most sustainable onshore salmon fish farm using revolutionary technology.


The German company sees better business opportunities in Portugal and has just announced that they will set-up the world’s most sustainable onshore fish farm in Sines. With this new investment, Portugal will help to close Europe’s “protein gap” and will reduce the massive economic dependencies on countries such as China.


Because of the much better framework conditions, 350ppm Biotech is now coming to Portugal with its disruptive technology to start a “food revolution” from Sines and will build the most sustainable onshore fish farm in the world.


The technology of German company 350ppm Biotech will help to close Europe’s “protein gap” and establish the continent’s economic independence in the food industry.


Since Europe imports 70% of the protein-rich plants it needs, this creates massive economic dependencies on countries such as China and leads to a protein-gap in Europe.


In Sines, Portugal, the technology of the German biotech company 350ppm Biotech is laying the foundation for a food revolution, together with the Norwegian aquaculture experts from Maiken Foods, to build the world's most sustainable onshore salmon fish farm.


The plant in Sines will produce 2,000 tons of protein per year from 4,500 tons of CO2. In the process, the CO2 exhaled by the salmon will be converted into fish feed, thus creating a sustainable circular economy.


The basis for this impressive balance is provided by 350ppm Biotech’s innovative technology using marine bacteria, which essentially feed on CO2 and hydrogen, to grow in large tanks.


While the CO2 comes from the surrounding production sites, the hydrogen required is produced on site in Sines using green electricity.


The marine bacteria consist mainly of protein, the composition of which corresponds to the protein found in fish meal in conventional fish farming and which is obtained from so-called by-catch, that consists of young fish as well as non-edible fish and other marine animals. In conventional aquafarming, up to 5 kilograms of bycatch are needed for 1 kilogram of fish. The protein that 350PPM can produce is a full substitute for fishmeal.


Using this innovative technology, the protein produced by 350ppm Biotech in Sines will not only promote sea-friendly but also climate-positive fish farming. It will also help to reduce the enormous dependence on protein imports to Europe and thus close the so-called “protein gap.”


350ppm Biotech was founded in 2020 with the aim of enabling more sustainable food production. The German company has developed a climate-positive process in which marine bacteria convert CO2 emissions into protein-rich biomass. In 2023, this technology will be used in the world's most sustainable onshore fish farm in Sines, Portugal.



In an interview with Erwin Jurtschitsch, CEO of 350ppm Biotech, he states that he chose Portugal as a hub because "Portugal offers us better conditions than Germany!"


Erwin Jurtschitsch describes the advantages of Portugal as a business location and as the future of innovative, climate-positive fish farming.



Mr Jurtschitsch, why did you decide to move from Germany to Portugal with your start-up 350ppm Biotech?


Erwin Jurtschitsch: Portugal offers us better conditions than Germany. In Sines, where we are building a climate-positive onshore fish farm with our partner Maiken Foods, we have significantly more sunny days than at any German location, and we use the sun-generated green electricity to run our plant. Moreover, I have the impression that people in Portugal, where we are investing, have already understood how revolutionary, disruptive and sustainable our business goal is.


How revolutionary, disruptive and sustainable is your corporate goal?


Jurtschitsch: I’ll give you an example. As you may know, in conventional fish farming, so-called fishmeal is fed to the animals. This is nothing more than dead ground-up fish. With our protein, we have succeeded in producing a 100 percent substitute for this conventional fish meal. Against the backdrop of a growing world population with an immense demand for food, we are thus making an important contribution, not least against the overfishing of the oceans.


And your protein can also help close the so-called “protein gap”, the lack of available proteins, in Europe?


Jurtschitsch: Of course, we won’t be able to do it all by ourselves with our plant in Sines, but we can at least make an initial, very substantial contribution. We are currently seeing how dependencies in the global economy lead to major national and continental problems. And Europe is currently in a considerable shortage situation as far as the supply of proteins is concerned. According to EuropaBio, we have to secure 70% in this sector through exports. The dependence on players like China is far too great and continues to grow. We Europeans urgently need to take countermeasures. With our plant in Sines, we are doing just that.


How do you achieve a climate-positive production process in Sines?


Jurtschitsch: To breed our fish in Sines, we need little space, hardly any water, the energy is supplied by the sun and our bacteria convert the CO2 emitted by the salmon into protein. Compared to CO2-emission-intensive conventional aquafarming, we have zero.


Is fish farming the only application example for your technology?


Jurtschitsch: No. Fish feed is not only used in aquafarming, but also in livestock farming. Accordingly, we also see, to put it cautiously, quite a decent potential for our product there. In this respect, the launch in Sines is the first, very important step in the right direction.









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