Agri-E: rice waste for a more sustainable agriculture

29 september 2025,

by Dario Zerbi

The solution developed by the Italian startup Agri-E enables on-site bioethanol production, promoting energy self-sufficiency for farms.

Agri-E: rice waste becomes bioethanol for a more sustainable agriculture

Il consumo di carburante in agricoltura ha un impatto rilevante in termini ambientali ed economici © Jenniveve84/iStockphoto

Agri-E is an Italian startup that helps farms achieve energy self-sufficiency.
Through an innovative technology, it becomes possible to transform rice waste (and other agricultural residues) into bioethanol.
Agri-E was awarded by LifeGate Way during the We Make Future festival.

Turning rice waste into bioethanol, to achieve energy self-sufficiency for farms.

Agriculture is a key sector for the Italian economy, yet it has been facing increasingly demanding challenges for years. One of the biggest ones is the need to reduce environmental impact while also keeping energy costs under control.

Agri-E is an Italian startup aiming to offer a practical solution for agricultural businesses, grounded in the principles of sustainability and circularity. Its goal is to enhance local resources and minimize waste.

The startup seeks to provide farms with stable energy costs, reducing their dependence on the volatility of oil prices.

Turning agricultural waste into fuel: the advantages

Relying on their strong technical and biotechnological expertise, the four members of the Agri-E team – Lorenzo Favaro, Ameya P. Gupte, Rosemary Cripwell, and Rebecca My – started by tackling the core issues of the agricultural sector. Among them, the four billion liters of diesel consumed annually by the industry, with fuel accounting for up to 18 per cent of a farm’s total operating costs. Added to this is the issue of price volatility: in the past five years alone, fuel prices have fluctuated by as much as 145 per cent between the lowest and highest values.

From the startup’s perspective, transforming rice waste – and in the near future, also potato and wheat residues – into bioethanol can offer to the farming industry a tangible and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, while significantly reducing CO2 emissions.

The major innovation proposed by Agri-E lies in its cutting-edge Consolidated BioProcessing technology, which enables efficient and low-cost biofuel production by eliminating the need for commercial enzymes. Agri-E has developed a yeast capable of converting agricultural waste into biofuel in a single step.

A low-tech approach which allows miniaturized plants to directly valorize local waste, making individual farms energy self-sufficient. The system is highly scalable and can be adapted to meet the specific energy needs of each farm.

How the Agri-E process works for bioethanol production

The waste, once ground, is placed in the fermenter together with the yeast and fermented for 48 hours.

The mixture then moves to the distiller, which separates the ethanol in less than five hours. Lastly, the ethanol is stored in a tank to use as fuel for machinery.

This streamlined and straightforward process aims to be more efficient and less costly than traditional methods. According to the startup’s founders, the bioethanol produced with Agri-E could cost up to fifty per cent less than conventional agricultural diesel.

Agri-E was awarded by LifeGate Way during the Startup & VC Plenary at the We Make Future festival, receiving exclusive services including consulting and communication support for its innovative idea.

Producing their own fuel directly from production waste, instead of relying on external supplies and on fluctuating prices, it can represent a great opportunity for growth and development for farms.