SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct 8 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of the Canary Islands has approved the granting of three direct grants to the Fundación Canaria Parque Científico y Tecnológico of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), the total amount of which amounts to a total of 2,319. 899 euros.
Thus, these are grants, managed by the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI), aimed at promoting the development of individual R & D & I projects related to blue biotechnology and improving efficiency in water transport and treatment, such as the Alizio project, of the ULPGC Foundation, and the AQUASOST and BIOSOST-ESC projects, both of the ITC.
With them, the aim is to promote research, technological development and innovation in the Canary Islands and strengthen the infrastructures and equipment available to public entities on the islands for this purpose.
In the case of the Alizio seaweed project, the grant awarded amounts to 495,250 euros, with which it is intended to improve, strengthen and expand the scientific equipment of the Chemical Laboratory of the Spanish Bank of Algas (BEA) and hire specialized personnel, with training and experience.
Regarding the AQUASOST project, aimed at strengthening R & D & i capacities related to transport and water treatment technologies, the amount of the subsidy is 1,133,194 euros.
The aim is to increase the visibility, excellence and recognition of ITC as a benchmark in the water sector both in Europe and in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
At the same time, the project will contribute to turning the Canary Islands into a node for the production of knowledge and innovation, an international leader in sustainable water treatment and production solutions, especially making use of renewable energies and an ideal space to test new technologies related to this field
The ITC is also the beneficiary of the direct subsidy of 691,455 euros granted through the ACIISI to the BIOSOST-ESC project, of R + D + i services for the supercritical extraction of marine biocomposites in the area of technological and industrial development of blue biotechnology .
Among the objectives to be achieved with this aid is the acquisition, installation and start-up of a pilot plant for supercritical extraction, which allows closing the productive cycle of the activity, from its initial and scaled-up cultivation phases, to the different systems for harvesting and processing biomass, up to its post-processing to obtain compounds with high added value.
The payment of these direct grants, granted for reasons of public interest and 85% co-financed with Canary Islands ERDF funds, will be distributed in two annual payments (2021-2022).