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Recycling industrial CO2 into cost-competitive protein for high-value, sustainable animal feed

Project description

From lab to farm: An unconventional way to produce protein for the animal feed industry

Serious sustainability issues such as overfishing and deforestation restrict the availability of protein from conventional sources and consequently increase the demand for alternative solutions. Deep Branch has developed a sustainable and highly scalable gas fermentation technology that transforms CO2 from industrial emissions into a single cell protein, Proton™ for animal nutrition. The cost-competitive Proton™ can potentially replace soy and fishmeal and be adapted to the precise needs of animal farms. After the quality validation of the product, Deep Branch will establish a full-scale production facility in cooperation with a carbon-intensive industry. The EU-funded Proton project intends to support production at scale. Moreover, it will validate the nutritional viability of the product, complete the design for the market launch and ensure the necessary IP protection.

Objective

Animal feed producers are looking for alternative proteins because protein from conventional sources such as soy production and fishmeal face big sustainability issues, reflected in overfishing and deforestation. Deep Branch has developed a sustainable, highly scalable gas fermentation technology, that takes large volumes of CO2 from industrial emissions and transforms them into Proton™, a Single Cell Protein (SCP) optimised for animal nutrition. Proton™ has the potential for significant and, in the long-term, complete replacement of soy and fishmeal. Proton™ can be tailored to meet the precise requirements of animal feed companies and produced at scale in a sustainable and cost-competitive manner. Deep Branch has successfully tested the technology in a containerised, mobile unit at an industrial site and demonstrated nutritional viability. The company's initial focus will be on the €44bn aquaculture feed markets, with the €100bn+ monogastric market to follow. Within five years, Deep Branch aims to have full commercial-scale technology co-located with a CO2 emitting industrial partner, producing >50,000 tonnes of SCP per year. Feed producers have expressed their interest in purchasing this product once available in commercial volume; the company has already started co-developing feed recipes based on Proton™ and has LOIs and trial partner agreements from two major feed producers. At the other end of the value chain, the technology will offer large carbon emitters a new way to valorise their CO2. Once off-take has been secured and the production process and product quality validated, Deep Branch will build the first full-scale production facility, legally structured in a joint venture with a carbon-intensive industrial company. The objectives of the project are to build a Pilot Plant capable of producing >200 kg Proton™ per month, to fully validate the nutritional viability of Proton™, to complete the design for a demo plant and to secure necessary IP protection.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

DEEP BRANCH BIOTECHNOLOGY LTD
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 006 788,00
Address
REGENT HOUSE 316 BEULAH HILL
SE19 3HF London
United Kingdom

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
London Outer London — South Croydon
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 558 315,00

Participants (1)

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