PROJECTS
- ENGLISH ONLY SECTION -
DRAGON CIDER BU
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Vertical Brand Development
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Registered Trade Mark of Beldragon SA-NV
DRAGON CIDER PROJECT
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PREMIUM NATURAL CIDER
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BREWED BY BELGIAN MASTERS
The project focuses on the development of DRAGON CIDER, a new Belgian cider. This is a very exciting development: as we started to dive into the incredibly rich world of ciders, we learned about its complexity, its infinite varieties where subtle apple blends, terroirs & climate suddenly assemble for a divine experience.
For more information on the project, simply click on the logo.
STATUS
ACTIVE
DRAGON ORCHARDS
DRAGON ORCHARDS
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PLANTING NATURALLY RESISTANT APPLE TREES
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PROMOTING BIODIVERSITY
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TRACING BACK TO GREAT CIDER VARIETIES
Belgium has more than 500 species of apples with exceptional qualities, many of them unfortunately no longer cultivated as the industry focused on sweet-only ‘table’ varieties. These lacks essential organoleptic proprieties and are prone to sicknesses and insect attacks therefore requiring massive use of undesired ‘chemicals’. Given the nature of our project, we asked ourselves about the need to plant orchards with local, better balanced varieties suitable for our premium quality cider quest. We came across the Diversifruit project launched by the Wallon region, precisely looking to increase the biodiversity with naturally immune varieties. We see this as crucial to master further the skills of producing Sinfully Good Ciders. Also, we believe this knowledge will be very useful to work with local sourcing partners that share our vision.
Plantation have been done in November 2021 at the Ferme St Pierre
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See next project on this site under 'FERME ST PIERRE'.
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Feel free to visit Dragon Cider web site related to this subject
STATUS
ACTIVE
FERME ST PIERRE BU
FERME ST PIERRE 'The Ark'
SUSTAINABLE FARMING
La Ferme St Pierre is located in the heart of Wallonia. So far most of the domain is cultivated 'intensively'. The project is looking at transforming and proving the viability of sustainable farming, exploiting the domain in a socially and environmentally engaging way with a particular focus on biodiversity.
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Current agriculture practices are progressively transitioned to bio-based, selecting local crops accordingly.
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Hedges and hedgerows are planted to increase biodiversity and preserve the soil from erosion.
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Agroforestry techniques are studied to determine which crops are suited for this particular environment.
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Renewable practices are assessed for electricity production and water management.
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Local scale transformation are envisaged - e.g. local workshops.
Ultimately the project should lead to people & families returning to inhabit near or in the farm while enjoying a much improved environment, healthier agricultural practises, better quality outputs.
STATUS
ACTIVE
BNewAble Ground BU
The Winning Formula
Solar PV + Energy Storage
The challenge with renewables is to secure the power source independently of the production hiatus inherent to using renewables, particularly if under the form of solar or wind energy (biomass might be produced in continu basis). Storage solution are therefore key to create the necessary buffer and absorb the overcapacity at time of full production.
This is the main driver behind the launch of BNewAble: we develop Utility Scale Solar PLants combined with Energy Storage Solutions.
For Energy Storage, we have visited Nilar.com and CATL. Nilar is a forward-looking Swedish Company in this burgeoning market. They are developing energy storage stacks using NiMH battery technology. NiMH battery have the advantage to be cleaner that Lithium-based alternatives and particularly resilient to the charging/decharging cycles. CATL is the global lead for Batteries and Battery energy Storage Solutions - BESS.
E&Y has developed an interesting Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI). It ranks the top 40 markets in the world on the attractiveness of their renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities. RECAI55 is all about energy Storage.
STATUS
ACTIVE
H2 TECHNOLOGIES
HYDROGEN AS FUEL OF THE FUTURE
Hydrogen is an energy vector in the sense it reacts with oxygen to produce energy that can be converted for example into electricity in a fuel cell system. Hydrogen can be produced either by natural gaz cracking or, more interestingly in an environmental friendly context, through the electrolysis of water, using renewable energy as source of primary energy.
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The promise is great: the combustion of Hydrogen with Oxygen only produces water.
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The problem is still big: will this energy be economically viable at large and in the long run? How can we safely store and transport hydrogen at low cost? How can we produce hydrogen from renewables i.e. without using hydrocarbon (e.g. electrolysis vs. hydrocarbon fracture)?
The bet is big, the reward is cleaner energy. Check out the following links below for more information about China bet, an ambitious start-up in the US, a local initiative in Belgium and a first mover from France, McPhy.
Let's start thinking about what we can do. Any idea or willing to invest time on this - don't hesitate to contact us.