Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BREVEL (Industrial scale-up of a novel and disruptive microalgae photobioreactor)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-02-01 al 2022-10-31
With the current growth rate of humanity, our continued reliance on unsustainable natural resources as well as animal based nutrition cannot be the long term solution. And yet, our world needs to feed itself, produce ingredients for various industries and continue developing. We must find a solution which is truly sustainable and scalable on global scales. Many expert and companies are betting on microalgae to be this holy grail as they grow exponentially fast, require very little resources and produce an abundance of protein alongside many other ingredients relevant for a variety of industries. However, this great potential has a very high cost and quality barrier.
The current outdoor cultivation systems are very labor intensive, suffer from contaminations, produce inconsistent qualities at relatively low yields and result in very high costs. Some strains of microalgae are capable of growing in dark and closed reactors in a fermentation process based on sugar and then costs are very low and production is consistent. However, in the absence of light, almost all of the benefits and ingredients of microalgae are simply lost.
Brevel developed a disruptive microalgae cultivation technology which dramatically reduces the cultivation costs for light-dependent microalgae and enables penetration into new and yet untapped markets where microalgae biomass and derived products are much desired. The technology is based on shifting from very large, relatively inefficient and labor-intensive outdoor cultivation system to completely closed, sterile and fully automated indoor photobioreactors which are efficiently illuminated from within and are capable of continuous mixotrophic cultivation which combines photosynthesis with fermentation processes.
The patented Brevel mixotrophic cultivation technology has been successfully demonstrated on a large scale with surprising results of more than 90% cost reduction and up to 200 higher yields per land compared to current outdoor state-of-the-art photobioreactors.
During the project, Brevel will further scale-up the technology to fully commercial scales and construct the first factory which will produce microalgae-based ingredients for different markets. The first use-case which will be demonstrated in the project is a natural and sustainable salmon feed supplement which will replace the current synthetic additive which is produced from petrochemicals. The feed additive is a red pigment added to salmon feed which gives salmon its pinkish color. Natural alternatives do exist in the market, but at prohibitive costs. Due to its technological advantage, Brevel is able to produce the natural supplement from microalgae at comparable market costs. During the course of the project, Brevel will perform trials with customers and introduce the product to the market.
The current outdoor cultivation systems are very labor intensive, suffer from contaminations, produce inconsistent qualities at relatively low yields and result in very high costs. Some strains of microalgae are capable of growing in dark and closed reactors in a fermentation process based on sugar and then costs are very low and production is consistent. However, in the absence of light, almost all of the benefits and ingredients of microalgae are simply lost.
Brevel developed a disruptive microalgae cultivation technology which dramatically reduces the cultivation costs for light-dependent microalgae and enables penetration into new and yet untapped markets where microalgae biomass and derived products are much desired. The technology is based on shifting from very large, relatively inefficient and labor-intensive outdoor cultivation system to completely closed, sterile and fully automated indoor photobioreactors which are efficiently illuminated from within and are capable of continuous mixotrophic cultivation which combines photosynthesis with fermentation processes.
The patented Brevel mixotrophic cultivation technology has been successfully demonstrated on a large scale with surprising results of more than 90% cost reduction and up to 200 higher yields per land compared to current outdoor state-of-the-art photobioreactors.
During the project, Brevel will further scale-up the technology to fully commercial scales and construct the first factory which will produce microalgae-based ingredients for different markets. The first use-case which will be demonstrated in the project is a natural and sustainable salmon feed supplement which will replace the current synthetic additive which is produced from petrochemicals. The feed additive is a red pigment added to salmon feed which gives salmon its pinkish color. Natural alternatives do exist in the market, but at prohibitive costs. Due to its technological advantage, Brevel is able to produce the natural supplement from microalgae at comparable market costs. During the course of the project, Brevel will perform trials with customers and introduce the product to the market.
During the project the following work and results have been performed and achieved:
1. Successful performance of growth and production of microalgae and desired metabolites for use as feed additives
2. Successful trials with trout in comparison with the synthetic alternative (25% higher performance)
3. Development and testing of the commercial scale bioreactor prior to its final assembly
4. Significant achievements beyond the scope of the project in the space of alternative protein for human consumption
5. Brevel has presented the technology, products and vision in numerous in-person and virtual conferences and events and has won different prizes and awards for the work and impact that the company provides.
During the first 12 months of the project the majority of the work performed was around solving challenges of sterilization of the cultivation systems and stabilizing the production quality in order to begin feeding trials on small and large scales.
The solving of these challenges resulted in significant improvements to the systems, applications of 3 new patents for key elements of the system and construction of a much more robust infrastructure for further development and scale-up of the technology.
Alongside the technological advancements, much work has been done business-wise in expanding the portfolio beyond a single product for the salmon industry. The new portfolio, beyond a color supplement for salmon is aimed at protein and functional ingredients for the growing plant-based food industry, as well as a nutritional health supplement.
Brevel performed the first small-scale pilot with a customer with surprisingly good results. 3 groups of trout fish were given feed with different compositions: feed with the widely used synthetic pigment, feed with Brevel's microalgae and feed with no added pigment (control). After 6 weeks of feeding, the two groups with the synthetic pigment and Brevel's natural alternative arrived at the same commercial level of coloring. Brevel is now working on a second trial with improved feed in order to test the assumption that Brevel's microalgae will provide better stability and coloring than the synthetic product. For this, 2 batches of feed with Brevel's microalgae will be tested in comparison with the synthetic product. The first with an equivalent concentration to the synthetic and another with 25% less pigment. In addition, Brevel will now enter pilots with additional European customers towards arriving at commercial activity in 2022. Alongside the pilots with the product, Brevel's biology team has managed to achieve very high results in terms of pigment concentrations in the microalgae.
In the second year of the project Brevel performed large scale feeding trials with a larger and better controlled environment. Growth rates and concentrations surpassed the expected targets initially conceived and trials with customers resulted in pigmentation 25% above market standards. These results place Brevel's feed supplement product above the expected quality.
Due to Covid-19 delays, technical delays and slow financial markets, the construction of Brevel's commercial pilot facility has not been completed in the expected time and thus the validation of the commercial scale systems has not been fully achieved. However, all of the systems and equipment are on-site and waiting for test runs and validation and all of the separate components have been rigorously tested and validated.
1. Successful performance of growth and production of microalgae and desired metabolites for use as feed additives
2. Successful trials with trout in comparison with the synthetic alternative (25% higher performance)
3. Development and testing of the commercial scale bioreactor prior to its final assembly
4. Significant achievements beyond the scope of the project in the space of alternative protein for human consumption
5. Brevel has presented the technology, products and vision in numerous in-person and virtual conferences and events and has won different prizes and awards for the work and impact that the company provides.
During the first 12 months of the project the majority of the work performed was around solving challenges of sterilization of the cultivation systems and stabilizing the production quality in order to begin feeding trials on small and large scales.
The solving of these challenges resulted in significant improvements to the systems, applications of 3 new patents for key elements of the system and construction of a much more robust infrastructure for further development and scale-up of the technology.
Alongside the technological advancements, much work has been done business-wise in expanding the portfolio beyond a single product for the salmon industry. The new portfolio, beyond a color supplement for salmon is aimed at protein and functional ingredients for the growing plant-based food industry, as well as a nutritional health supplement.
Brevel performed the first small-scale pilot with a customer with surprisingly good results. 3 groups of trout fish were given feed with different compositions: feed with the widely used synthetic pigment, feed with Brevel's microalgae and feed with no added pigment (control). After 6 weeks of feeding, the two groups with the synthetic pigment and Brevel's natural alternative arrived at the same commercial level of coloring. Brevel is now working on a second trial with improved feed in order to test the assumption that Brevel's microalgae will provide better stability and coloring than the synthetic product. For this, 2 batches of feed with Brevel's microalgae will be tested in comparison with the synthetic product. The first with an equivalent concentration to the synthetic and another with 25% less pigment. In addition, Brevel will now enter pilots with additional European customers towards arriving at commercial activity in 2022. Alongside the pilots with the product, Brevel's biology team has managed to achieve very high results in terms of pigment concentrations in the microalgae.
In the second year of the project Brevel performed large scale feeding trials with a larger and better controlled environment. Growth rates and concentrations surpassed the expected targets initially conceived and trials with customers resulted in pigmentation 25% above market standards. These results place Brevel's feed supplement product above the expected quality.
Due to Covid-19 delays, technical delays and slow financial markets, the construction of Brevel's commercial pilot facility has not been completed in the expected time and thus the validation of the commercial scale systems has not been fully achieved. However, all of the systems and equipment are on-site and waiting for test runs and validation and all of the separate components have been rigorously tested and validated.
During the second half of the project, Brevel has experienced growing market demand for another product which has been under development - protein for human consumption and has managed to develop a product breakthrough with alternative protein which is sustainable, healthy, non-allergenic, color and flavor neutral and at an affordable costs. This is an achievement well beyond the initial scope of the project and has significant implications for Brevel’s future growth. Thus, Brevel has been shifting focus to this fast growing market and is working today with multiple global partners on fine tuning its product to provide as much value as possible for the food industry and end consumers.
The potential impact of introducing a truly sustainable alternative protein to the market at affordable costs is immense. By providing natural, sustainable and affordable alternative protein, Brevel reduces CO2 emissions by more than 95%, land and water use by 98-99% and eliminates the need of chemicals and pesticides compared to existing alternatives.
The potential impact of introducing a truly sustainable alternative protein to the market at affordable costs is immense. By providing natural, sustainable and affordable alternative protein, Brevel reduces CO2 emissions by more than 95%, land and water use by 98-99% and eliminates the need of chemicals and pesticides compared to existing alternatives.