NovoNutrients Wants to Turn CO2 Into Protein
upstart writes:
But first it'll have to prove its business model:
We've spent the last century and a half pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and it's clear that we'll have to spend the coming decades removing a significant fraction of that.
But then what do we do with it all? Some people are proposing pumping it underground. Others think we can make things from it, including liquid fuels and concrete. Problem is, those are pretty low-margin opportunities today. One startup thinks the answer is to turn carbon dioxide into protein.
[...] NovoNutrients relies on bacteria to do the dirty work. The company has surveyed the scientific literature to find species that can use carbon dioxide in their metabolic pathways, allowing them to use the waste gas as energy. Its scientists have also discovered strains not otherwise known to science.
"Our technology is about how do you industrialize this naturally occurring metabolism?" CEO David Tze told TechCrunch+.
[...] The company's approach has several advantages over other methods of using carbon dioxide. For one thing, it does not require large amounts of land or water, which are both in short supply in many parts of the world. It also does not require the use of fossil fuels, which are a major contributor to climate change.
NovoNutrients is not the only company working on using carbon dioxide to create protein. Other companies, such as Calysta and Deep Branch Biotechnology, are also developing similar technologies. However, NovoNutrients believes that its approach is unique because it uses bacteria to create protein products that are high in quality and can be sold at a competitive price.
The company's pilot-scale plant will be located in California and is expected to be operational by the end of 2021 [sic]. If successful, NovoNutrients plans to build a larger commercial-scale plant that could produce up to 1,000 metric tons of protein per year.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.