Aveo-Énergie
MOROCCOBiomass as a source of energy.
overview
Aveo was originally a company producing olive oil. When its leaders realized that they were producing a large quantity of olive pomace, without knowing how to value, they decided to find it an outlet.
That’s how the subsidiary Aveo-Energie was born in September 2014. In 2016, the company had 20 employees, and its growth continued: Aveo will even consider establishing branches in Africa.
- 140 000 tons of olive pomace treated
- 50 suppliers
- 20 employees
- Recycling
- Responsible consumption
presentation of the circular economic approach
Aveo environment sells energy, mainly to hotels. It supports the purchase, installation and maintenance of thermal boilers, and is paid per kilowatt hour. Aveo is also paired with a company that supplies large quantities of olive pomace. This substrate, supplemented by external suppliers of biomass, is used to supply boilers.
The method implemented by Aveo makes it possible to take advantage of olive pomace, which has the disadvantage of being useless as an organic amendment, and which was therefore lost before. Moreover, using pomace means less burning.
However, their combustion leads to the production of ashes that would be likely to enter into the composition of an effective compost. The recovery of these ashes and the spreading of compost in the olive plots is currently under study within Aveo, and would be an example of circular economy!
sustainable approach
The burning of olive pomace is advantageous compared to that of fuel oil. In addition, reintegrating ashes in the fields after a period of composting would have an extremely favorable environmental impact.
Aveo favors the local economy: the olive producers find a new outlet for their co-products, the hoteliers reduce their energy bill, and Aveo realizes a margin while having about twenty employees.
replicability & future perspectives
The model of this company seems to be reproducible, with some limits: if the price of oil drops drastically, the economic model of Aveo is no longer profitable. In addition, the presence of a considerable unused resource (olive pomace) can sometimes be lacking.