Facilitating the production of sustainable proteins
Occupying nearly 80 % of the world’s agricultural land, the production of livestock and animal feed is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and biodiversity loss. As the world population grows, so too will demand for animal protein. “That’s a problem considering that current levels of production and consumption cannot be sustained without severe consequences for the planet,” explains Craig Johnston, co-founder of ENOUGH. Helping to answer this challenge are novel proteins such as ABUNDA(opens in new window), a sustainable, nutrient-dense protein derived from fungus being developed by ENOUGH. However, before such alternative proteins can reach your kitchen table, they need to be produced at scale – and that requires building an entirely new bio-based value chain. Enter the PLENITUDE(opens in new window) project, which received funding from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking(opens in new window), a public-private partnership.
New facility to increase availability of sustainable food protein
Bringing together partners from across the entire supply chain, from SMEs to large industrial players, the EU-funded project built a first-of-its-kind facility to sustainably produce ABUNDA protein at scale. The facility is based in the south of the Netherlands and is co-located with project partner Cargill. The innovative facility integrates a mycoprotein fermentation plant with a conventional first-generation biorefinery, and uses a circular, minimal-waste production process. “It’s one thing to develop ideas in a lab, but it’s another to scale up in a real industrial setting,” says Johnston, who coordinated the project. “Seeing something move from concept to an operational, large-scale reality is a huge step forward for the sector.” With a potential output capacity of 10 000 tonnes per year, this flagship facility will increase the availability of sustainable, high-quality food protein. The technology can be implemented anywhere there is demand for more sustainable protein and bio-based products.
A viable, bio-based alternative to animal protein
With the world facing major challenges around food security, climate change and resource availability, projects such as PLENITUDE are particularly timely. “Not only did we demonstrate that there are viable, bio-based alternatives to animal protein, we showed that these alternatives can be produced sustainably, at scale, and using existing industrial systems,” concludes Johnston. The project team is now working to further optimise its facility and secure the funding needed to move it towards wider commercial deployment.
