17-ERACoBioTech-Bester
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Centre for Environmental Policy
Abstract
Industrial Biotechnology is a key enabling technology to produce a plethora of different bio-based products from sustainable resources and a driver for developing the bio-based economy in Europe. The specialty chemical industry is a $450 billion market and is a part of the $5.4 trillion global chemical market. Within this market, butyl esters, derivable from n-butanol (BuOH) and suitable organic acids by esterification, have diverse uses as commodity chemicals and drop-in biofuels, but also represent high value opportunities within the fragrance and flavour industry, cosmetics and coatings. The production of BuOH in the anaerobic clostridial ABE fermentation process is well established and has in 2016 reached commercial scale in the US by UK-based company and BESTER project partner Green Biologics Ltd. (GBL). Efficient processes to produce suitable organic acids from renewable resources as counterparts for BuOH in catalytic esterification are needed. The use of esterase enzymes as natural, sustainably produced biocatalysts for ester formation will allow entirely green bioprocesses for the production of different butyl esters, thus increasing market value of the ABE process and reducing GHG emissions.
The BESTER project connects six project partners with highly complementary expertise from four different ERA-CoBioTech partner countries (Norway, UK, Germany and France) in order to maximise project output and share risks, costs and skills. The project is industry-driven with large enterprise GBL (UK) and SME Processium SA (FR) participating as active partners. Borregaard AS will provide expert advice and fermentation feedstock from the company's proprietary BALI process. The three companies are positioned along the butyl ester value chain, which will ensure that project results are efficiently taken further towards commercialization. BESTER project will mitigate reliance on fossils for chemical production, enabling sustainable industrial development in Europe.
The BESTER project connects six project partners with highly complementary expertise from four different ERA-CoBioTech partner countries (Norway, UK, Germany and France) in order to maximise project output and share risks, costs and skills. The project is industry-driven with large enterprise GBL (UK) and SME Processium SA (FR) participating as active partners. Borregaard AS will provide expert advice and fermentation feedstock from the company's proprietary BALI process. The three companies are positioned along the butyl ester value chain, which will ensure that project results are efficiently taken further towards commercialization. BESTER project will mitigate reliance on fossils for chemical production, enabling sustainable industrial development in Europe.
Technical Summary
Industrial Biotechnology is a key enabling technology to produce a plethora of different bio-based products from sustainable resources and a driver for developing the bio-based economy in Europe. The specialty chemical industry is a $450 billion market and is a part of the $5.4 trillion global chemical market. Within this market, butyl esters, derivable from n-butanol (BuOH) and suitable organic acids by esterification, have diverse uses as commodity chemicals and drop-in biofuels, but also represent high value opportunities within the fragrance and flavour industry, cosmetics and coatings. The production of BuOH in the anaerobic clostridial ABE fermentation process is well established and has in 2016 reached commercial scale in the US by UK-based company and BESTER project partner Green Biologics Ltd. (GBL). Efficient processes to produce suitable organic acids from renewable resources as counterparts for BuOH in catalytic esterification are needed. The use of esterase enzymes as natural, sustainably produced biocatalysts for ester formation will allow entirely green bioprocesses for the production of different butyl esters, thus increasing market value of the ABE process and reducing GHG emissions.
The BESTER project connects six project partners with highly complementary expertise from four different ERA-CoBioTech partner countries (Norway, UK, Germany and France) in order to maximise project output and share risks, costs and skills. The project is industry-driven with large enterprise GBL (UK) and SME Processium SA (FR) participating as active partners. Borregaard AS will provide expert advice and fermentation feedstock from the company's proprietary BALI process. The three companies are positioned along the butyl ester value chain, which will ensure that project results are efficiently taken further towards commercialization. BESTER project will mitigate reliance on fossils for chemical production, enabling sustainable industrial development in Europe.
The BESTER project connects six project partners with highly complementary expertise from four different ERA-CoBioTech partner countries (Norway, UK, Germany and France) in order to maximise project output and share risks, costs and skills. The project is industry-driven with large enterprise GBL (UK) and SME Processium SA (FR) participating as active partners. Borregaard AS will provide expert advice and fermentation feedstock from the company's proprietary BALI process. The three companies are positioned along the butyl ester value chain, which will ensure that project results are efficiently taken further towards commercialization. BESTER project will mitigate reliance on fossils for chemical production, enabling sustainable industrial development in Europe.
Planned Impact
This project directly impacts on the European 2020 strategy that was adopted by the European Council in 2010. In particular the initiatives
related to employment and education, research and development (R&D), and climate change.
Employment and education: The 'Agenda for new skills and jobs' aims to ensure that people are equipped with the right skills to do the
jobs of today and tomorrow. BESTER also has the potential to contribute to the European tax base and provide employment opportunities both through the project
directly and through the commercial exploitation of the outputs. For example, this project directly creates or secures at least 6-8 jobs and in
order to exploit the outcomes, a European renewable chemical plant would likely employ 40-50 direct employees with many
indirect employees (scientists, engineers, construction etc.). Currently the only operating ABE plant globally is in the USA. For production
to be viable in Europe, second generation feedstocks needs to be applied, and plant economics need to be improved. The addition of fully
renewable esters to the product portfolio of an ABE plant will move manufacturing further up the value chain and improve product LCA
characteristics. Both of these will enable higher values to be sought in the market place leading to better plant economics.
Climate change: This focus on building ester capability into an ABE plant in order to improve economics also feeds into the aims of the
2015 Paris Agreement in which 195 countries agreed to tackle climate change.
Life Quality: Biochemical production technologies are likely to be economically relevant. However, increased quality of life stems not only
from increased monetary resources, but also from a more sustainable environment. This would improve the quality of air for EU countries as
a consequence of a considerable reduction of GHG emissions by the adoption of these biochemical production technologies.
Decarbonisation of industrial processes is a major element in the BESTER project.
R&D: The work in BESTER builds upon previous and current successful partnerships. GBL and UULM have previously collaborated on an
ERA-Net project (REACTIF), and GBL has worked with Borregaard on several projects demonstrating that BALI sugars are a good substrate
for growth and chemical production by GBL strains. SINTEF and UROS currently work together in ERASysAPP SYSTERACT, in which the
FAIRDOMHub is used for data management. SINTEF has previously worked with Borregaard, one of the world's largest integrated
biorefineries from lignocellulose, on biotechnological processes using BALI substrate. The project participants represent some of Europe's
leading experts in their fields. By combining resources and expertise, BESTER will maximise resources and reduce risks and costs.
Through strengthening the existing bonds and bringing in additional partners with complementary competences (PROC, ICL), the project will
yield high added value for European trans-national R&D and innovation.
related to employment and education, research and development (R&D), and climate change.
Employment and education: The 'Agenda for new skills and jobs' aims to ensure that people are equipped with the right skills to do the
jobs of today and tomorrow. BESTER also has the potential to contribute to the European tax base and provide employment opportunities both through the project
directly and through the commercial exploitation of the outputs. For example, this project directly creates or secures at least 6-8 jobs and in
order to exploit the outcomes, a European renewable chemical plant would likely employ 40-50 direct employees with many
indirect employees (scientists, engineers, construction etc.). Currently the only operating ABE plant globally is in the USA. For production
to be viable in Europe, second generation feedstocks needs to be applied, and plant economics need to be improved. The addition of fully
renewable esters to the product portfolio of an ABE plant will move manufacturing further up the value chain and improve product LCA
characteristics. Both of these will enable higher values to be sought in the market place leading to better plant economics.
Climate change: This focus on building ester capability into an ABE plant in order to improve economics also feeds into the aims of the
2015 Paris Agreement in which 195 countries agreed to tackle climate change.
Life Quality: Biochemical production technologies are likely to be economically relevant. However, increased quality of life stems not only
from increased monetary resources, but also from a more sustainable environment. This would improve the quality of air for EU countries as
a consequence of a considerable reduction of GHG emissions by the adoption of these biochemical production technologies.
Decarbonisation of industrial processes is a major element in the BESTER project.
R&D: The work in BESTER builds upon previous and current successful partnerships. GBL and UULM have previously collaborated on an
ERA-Net project (REACTIF), and GBL has worked with Borregaard on several projects demonstrating that BALI sugars are a good substrate
for growth and chemical production by GBL strains. SINTEF and UROS currently work together in ERASysAPP SYSTERACT, in which the
FAIRDOMHub is used for data management. SINTEF has previously worked with Borregaard, one of the world's largest integrated
biorefineries from lignocellulose, on biotechnological processes using BALI substrate. The project participants represent some of Europe's
leading experts in their fields. By combining resources and expertise, BESTER will maximise resources and reduce risks and costs.
Through strengthening the existing bonds and bringing in additional partners with complementary competences (PROC, ICL), the project will
yield high added value for European trans-national R&D and innovation.
Publications
Kakadellis S
(2021)
Friend or foe: Stakeholder attitudes towards biodegradable plastic packaging in food waste anaerobic digestion
in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Sevigné-Itoiz E
(2021)
Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
| Description | The heaviest contribution to the environmental impacts in most categories considered is from the fossil-butanol. The substitution of fossil-butanol with bio-butanol from the ABE process reduces the impacts when a system expansion approach is adopted. The Salts and Nutrients production represents the second largest contributor for climate change impact but the first for land use impacts due to the glucose production and its associated land use impacts. Minimising the use of Salts and Nutrients, is very effective strategy for reducing the environmental impact. The use of enzymes also increases the environmental impacts. The use of environmental data associated with enzyme requirement for the BESTER process might influence the results, particularly regarding its consumption. There is need to explore further this option in the future projects with Novozymes (enzymes manufacturer). Location of the facility is also relevant, and depending on the it, the environmental impacts could be higher than the fossil-based butyl esters. The selection of the allocation approach applied to deal with the multifunctionality in the BALI and ABE process has a great impact on the results. When applying economic and mass allocation, the impacts appear to be larger than the reference for fossil-derived butyl ester production. However, it is important to understand that fossil-based butyl ester production is based on process has been highly optimized over decades. All results and outputs of the ELSA and RRI process were communicated and disseminated throughout the development of the project. Understanding the potential positive and negative consequences of BESTER project throughout the entire value chain was a valuable instrument that motivated and supported debates and allowed a structured reflection on the four dimensions of RRI. |
| Exploitation Route | Industry can use these findings to develop new technological innovations to deliver sustainable bioeconomy options particularly for the production of bioplastics and biocomposits. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Title | Responsible Research and Innovation |
| Description | In BESTER, we experimented on inclusion of Stakeholder engagement in conducting the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This approach was used to define the baseline, alternative scenarios and mode of sensitivity analysis to be applied. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Too soon to judge the impact of this innovation in research methods. |
| Description | Participation to an additional application for research funding to ERACoBioTech, project title FunCoBio |
| Organisation | Technical University of Munich |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We were responsible to develop WP7 of the proposal "Societal/environmental aspects and stakeholder involvement" focusing on aspects related to responsible research and innovation, environmental sustainability and stakeholder engagement. |
| Collaborator Contribution | FunCoBio constituted an international and interdisciplinary consortium of partners from academia, research organizations and SMEs aiming to develop a consolidated bioprocess for the conversion of woody residues by a new, versatile fungal platform into carotenoids as high value products for diverse industries with a strong market potential. The project will thereby contribute to the valorization of low-value silvicultural side streams, such as from forestry operations or saw mills, and thus to a major goal of the modern bio-economy - the necessary transition from fossil-based to sustainable products from renewable biomass that is not in competition with food sources. |
| Impact | The proposal was submitted but did not receive funding |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Biotechnology and Society Seminar Series, 'Implementing RRI: Integrating LCA and Stakeholder engagement' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Seminar on deploying Responsible Research Initiatives in bioeconomy research activities at the EU level. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://international.fnr.de/eu-activities/european-projects/european-biotechnology-and-society-onli... |
| Description | EU Green Week 'Circular Economy and biodiversity: How companies can boost biodiversity based on the circular economy principles' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Disseminated LCA results from the BESTER project to EU policy makers and politicians |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://europa.eu/newsroom/events/eu-green-week-2020_en |
| Description | Life Cycle Innovation Conference (LCIC 2020), 'paving the way to sustainable bioeconomy with the integration of LCA and stakeholder engagement' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | LCA European conference for disseminating the results of the BESTER project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://fslci.org/lcic/lcic2020/ |
| Description | Life Cycle Summer School, 'LCA and Stakeholder engagement in the bioeconomy and food-sector' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Summer school to educate students and practitioners on new methodologies developed during the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://fslci.org/lcic/lcic2020/ |
| Description | Participation to the event "Responsible innovation - a matter of survival" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event was about bringing together representatives from the communities of research collaboration managers, corporate affairs leaders, research strategy leaders, corporate social responsibility function as well as policy makers to understand the challenges that each one is facing and start shaping together concrete operational tools to implement Responsible Innovation. The issues addressed during the event were: (i) How to incorporate responsible innovation principles in R&D/R&I management? (ii) How to harness Responsible Innovation as an engine of Sustainable Finance and measure its impact? (iii) How can policy makers and industry can work together to generate innovation for 'people, planet and profit'? (iv) How to transform your organisation's R&I operations to align with UN SDGs? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.eirma.org/EIRMA/Activities/Event-Registration-Wizard.aspx?EventKey=RT1411&WebsiteKey=db5... |