Not only InnovatieLink caters to SMEs (see our post of 8 August) but so does TNO in the shape of Technology Clusters (TC’s). TA’s are geared for the application of existing knowledge, not for the generation of new knowledge.
Applications are therefore almost ready for the market. There are some 40 TC’s (not all in the chemical sector) running at the moment, each one meant to stay up for half a year.
Two examples:
From grass to gas
Digesting grass to obtain biogas is difficult because of the high fiber content of the grass, which is hard to break down. A TC was formed, which paid a visit to India, where a digester was running on water hyacinth and the shells of coffee beans, which are similarly high in fiber. Specific bacteria were able to handle this mix. Participants of the TC gained insight in this technology and a follow-up project has in the mean time been started to adept this technology to local circumstances.
A natural dye
Indigo is the dye that colors blue jeans, so it is a big thing and of course it is produced synthetically.
Structural formula of indigo
But it is also one of the oldest dyes in history, going back to the Greeks and Romans. Only in those days it was extracted from Woad (Wede in Dutch). The demand for natural dyes is increasing. TNO has a pilot for the extraction of natural dyes from plants, that will form the heart of a new TC. This TC includes the entire business chain, from growing the seeds to dyeing the textile.