Cetogenix: Energy and Nutrient Hub
Cetogenix are improving the way we turn organic waste into renewable energy and green fertilisers.
Cetogenix is a New Zealand clean-tech startup transforming organic waste from agriculture, food production and the water treatment industry into renewable energy and green fertilisers.
By extracting greater value from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic wastes, Cetogenix helps reduce emissions from waste disposal, builds energy resilience by providing alternatives to fossil natural gas, recovers nutrients that reduce demand for synthetic fertilisers, and supports Aotearoa’s transition to a circular economy.
While anaerobic digestion is widely used overseas - in Germany, for instance, bio gas plants supply 6% of national electricity - New Zealand’s pasture-based farming systems make it difficult to collect our most significant biogas feedstock resource: manure. As a result, biogas adoption here has been limited. Cetogenix is tackling these challenges with innovative technology designed for New Zealand conditions.
How it works
At the heart of Cetogenix’s approach is its Ceto-Boost™ technology, which breaks down and re-directs the residual organic solids – digestate - generated from the traditional anaerobic digestion process. Deconstruction of these poorly degraded wastes into useable feedstock – Ceto-Juice - generates up to 40% more renewable natural gas, while also producing concentrated, easy-to-transport nutrients, such as green ammonia, phosphate-rich ash, and biogenic carbon dioxide.
Our partnership and project milestones
Ara Ake has partnered with Cetogenix to advance key stages of development for its Ceto-Hub energy and nutrient solution:
- Cetogenix Energy and Nutrient Hub Feasibility Study
A third-party, peer-reviewed feasibility study confirmed the economic potential for integrating Ceto-Boost™ technology into a centralised energy and nutrient hub - the Ceto-Hub. This concept addresses the unique challenges of our pastural farming systems by combining a novel AD configuration, complimentary Ceto-Boost™ unit, and facilities for collecting variable, external feedstocks from other primary sector sources, such as animal production, wood processing and horticulture.
Take a read of the report summary here.
- Commercial Pilot, Stage 1
In 2024-2025, Cetogenix successfully built and commissioned a pilot plant in Rotorua to optimise the technology at scale and to prove out the Ceto-Hub concept. Early trials using feedstocks from commercial AD operations have shown promising results, confirming Ceto-Boost™ can increase energy recovery and nutrient efficiency, as predicted by the feasibility assessments.
- Commercial Pilot, Stage 2
Momentum continues to build, with Stage 2 focussing on the design, fabrication and deployment of a first-of-a-kind pre-commercial-scale pilot at a commercial AD site in New Zealand, bringing the technology closer to market readiness. These pilot studies will set the scene for further testing of other Ceto-Boost™ opportunities across the New Zealand primary sector and municipalities.
Impact unlocked
Scaling Cetogenix’s technology could turn water treatment, agricultural and food wastes into a sustainable source of renewable biogas and green fertilisers, reducing reliance on fossil resources, and positioning New Zealand as a leader in waste-to-energy innovation.
www.cetogenix.co.nz
