Descrizione del progetto
Dal laboratorio all’azienda agricola: un modo non convenzionale di produrre proteine per l’industria mangimistica europea
Alcuni gravi problemi di sostenibilità, quali la pesca eccessiva e la deforestazione, limitano la disponibilità di proteine da fonti convenzionali e, di conseguenza, aumentano la richiesta di soluzioni alternative. Deep Branch ha sviluppato una tecnologia sostenibile e altamente scalabile di fermentazione del gas che trasforma la CO2 proveniente dalle emissioni industriali in una singola proteina cellulare, Proton™, per l’alimentazione animale. La proteina Proton™, competitiva in termini di costi, può potenzialmente sostituire la soia e la farina di pesce ed essere adattata alle precise esigenze degli allevamenti. Dopo la convalida della qualità del prodotto, Deep Branch istituirà una struttura di produzione su scala reale in cooperazione con l’industria ad alta intensità di carbonio. Il progetto Proton, finanziato dall’UE, intende sostenere la produzione su larga scala. Inoltre, convaliderà la praticabilità del prodotto a livello nutrizionale, completerà la progettazione per il lancio sul mercato e garantirà la necessaria protezione della proprietà intellettuale.
Obiettivo
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.
Campo scientifico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheries
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybioprocessing technologiesfermentation
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020-4
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinatore
SE19 3HF London
Regno Unito
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.