With "Replacer" to sustainable feed proteins

„Scientific and technological innovations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and plastic waste, while finding a sustainable solution to the current feed production system, are urgently needed to tackle climate change, plastic pollution and food insecurity“, says coordinator Dr Rohan Karande. He recently joined the Research and Transfer Centre for Bioactive Matter as a junior research group leader. „To tackle this, we are dedicated to developing and scaling up bioreactors to produce microbial biomass as a value-added feed product from carbon dioxide and methane,“ he explains. „We hope to be able to test a prototype on a pilot scale in three to four years time.“

Tilo Pompe, Professor of Biophysical Chemistry and Scientific Director of b-ACTmatter, adds: „We want to immediately consider the possible applications here. It would be too ambitious to found a start-up right from the first project phase, but that can be the next step. However, we have a top team from materials science, engineering, biotechnology, physics, computer science and maths, which will go a long way in technology development.“

Everything on the agenda sounds challenging. Whether it is about producing customised porous 3D structures from recycled plastic membranes, developing an efficient mechanism for material transport or ultimately producing a large amount of biomass to enable a continuous production system with high added value. Not to forget: A working group on sustainable circular economy in biotechnology will ensure that the newly developed technologies are also thought through in terms of ethical, social, political, environmental and cultural impacts.

Resource-efficient technologies to support a circular economy

For the next three years, 1.49 million euros will be available for Replacer. Five partners have joined forces: in addition to the University of Leipzig, these are the University of Latvia in Riga, the Leibniz Institute for Surface Modification (IOM) in Leipzig and two companies, qCoat from Saxony and Holisun from Rumänia.

„Replacer“ is one of nine projects successfully evaluated last year within the framework of „M-era.Net“, a network funded by the European Union, which was founded in 2012 to jointly promote the fields of materials research and materials technologies through national and regional funding organisations, here the state of Saxony.

„The project developments will contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the EU Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan to develop advanced, resource-efficient technologies to support a circular economy,

explains Dr Susanne Ebitsch, Managing Director of the Saxony-based research organisation. Susanne Ebitsch, Managing Director of b-ACTmatter and responsible for the transfer area. She has extensive expertise in the areas of technology transfer, utilisation and licensing as well as quality and project management, which can decisively advance projects such as Replacer. „There are many steps to complete before you can say: Here is the product. As a university, we have to create opportunities for this path, favourable framework conditions, such as those currently provided by the establishment of the b-ACTmatter research and transfer centre through funding from the federal government and the state of Saxony as part of a structural funding measure," says Ebitsch. „It is also important to find suitable partners. Of course, you need specialist knowledge for this and also have to maintain the necessary network with industry.

Article from "Universität Leipzig" from 14 July 2023