In a start-up creativity is your main asset, with INNOVATION being the sole path to success. At Envirohemp, we’ve nurtured innovative ideas since our inception in 2012, constantly seeking projects and partners that assist in our growth and transform our concepts into tangible products. If you’re not familiar with us, here’s a snapshot of our endeavors over the past few years.

H2020-CARESTOR project (2016-2020) – Did you know that there exist alternative devices to batteries that can be re-charged 10 times faster and last 1000 times longer? They do exist and they go under the name “ultracapacitors”. The key to this wonder device is an advanced material designed to efficiently store electrical charges inside its pores, namely activated carbons. Thanks to this EU-funded project, Envirohemp became in 2019 the first company in Europe to demonstrate the production a new generation of super-activated carbons at tens of kilograms, using as raw material actual waste from local agri-food industry. But, why is this remarkable? Well, because 100% of the ultracapacitor’s industry currently depends on the carbons produced in Asia out of coconut shell. If you want to learn more about how we made it, you can check the video of CARESTOR.

H2020-PORTABLECRAC project (2017-2021) – Is the drinking water industry clean? The truth is: not yet. Here is why, fresh water collected from natural sources is not always fit for drinking, there is an increasing need for removing impurities that are harmful for humans or that simply spoil the taste. Activated carbon is great to make the water that we drink safer and tastier, but after 4 years in average every filter gets exhausted. Only in Europe, nearly 80,000 tons of spent granular activated carbon are sent to landfills every year by drinking water treatment plants, DWTP. The only alternative is to send the spent carbon across thousands of kms to thermal reactivation plants, however, this solution fails to address the needs of medium and small municipalities. In project PORTABLECRAC, we led the development of the first portable regeneration plant based on a disruptive technology known as electro-regeneration. In 2019, we manufactured and successfully operated the first prototype of portable electro-regeneration plant in the facilities of an actual DWTP (see video). In 2021 we managed to bring the technology to the 1-ton scale, a much more commercially-appealing version, based on the lessons learnt throughout the project (see video).

What is ahead?

At Envirohemp the innovation never stops. In 2022, two major projects of the company will take-off. Thanks to fundraising activities that will include funds from Next Generation Europe, we will start a 18-month project devoted to the on-site demonstration of PORTABLECRAC’s 1 metric ton regeneration technology. Nearly at the same time we will start an ambitious 4-year project (MAST3RBoost, Horizon Europe) where we will use the existing background from CareSTOR for the production of advanced nanoporous materials for their application in the storage of adsorbed hydrogen, including the design of innovative vessels for transport applications.

Stay tuned for more updates about our innovations or contact us to the email address innovation@envirohemp.com.