Project description
Innovative method to produce ethanol from food waste
A transition towards a more sustainable use of renewable resources is underway. Ethanol production traditionally relies on sugar crops, leading to conflicts over land use. Alternatives often require complex pretreatments, resulting in higher production costs. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Waste2Ethanol project seeks to address these challenges by developing a new process for producing ethanol from food waste without sterilisation or pretreatment. The project aims to enhance our understanding of yeast-bacteria interactions involved in fermenting carbohydrates. It will use a combination of open-culture biotechnology methods, defined microbial co-cultures, advanced molecular and microscopy techniques, and bioinformatics to study how yeasts and carbohydrate-fermenting bacteria compete and collaborate. The aim is to identify selective conditions conducive to ethanol production.
Objective
The EU Commission’s bioeconomy strategy aims at shifting the European economy towards a greater and more sustainable use of renewable resources, where waste streams are converted into value-added products. Ethanol is a platform chemical and fuel with a global production of 102 billion liters per year. However, its production requires sugar crops, leading to conflicts over land use and potentially contributing to food shortages or increased food prices. Current feedstock alternatives (lignocellulosic materials or algae biomass) require complex pre-treatments, resulting in higher production costs that limit their application. Waste2Ethanol aims to develop a novel non-sterile bioprocess without any pretreatments for the production of ethanol from food waste. For this, our understanding of the metabolic interactions between yeasts (ethanol producers) and carbohydrate fermenting bacteria needs to be expanded. In Waste2Ethanol, this will be done with a combination of mixed culture biotechnology methods, defined microbial co-cultures and cutting-edge molecular and microscopy techniques. Hosted at UGent, I will study the competition and synergies of yeasts and carbohydrate fermenting bacteria with microbial enrichment cultures and bioinformatics techniques to identify selective conditions that would favor the production of ethanol. During the secondment at Osnabrück University, I will gain complementary skills in the use of defined microbial co-cultures and advanced microscopy techniques to study metabolic interactions. This unique combination of expertise will significantly improve my career perspectives towards my ambition to establish my own research group at the intersection of microbial ecology and non-axenic biotechnology. Overall, the generated knowledge will allow to steer a microbial community towards ethanol production and pave the road to a non-sterile bioprocess for the production of ethanol from food waste at higher TRLs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- social sciences economics and business economics bioeconomy
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
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.
9000 Gent
Belgium
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.