Making plastic from sugars, through anaerobic fermentation and cheap carbohydrates. This will be the focus of a new three-year multidisciplinary project in which the University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Sanovations, Senbis Polymer Innovations and Bioclear earth will collaborate. Cosun and Teijin Aramid also support the project financially.
The project, full name 'Anaerobic fermentation for cost-effective production of biopolymers in the Northern Netherlands', has its origins in the research report Noord4BioNoord4Bio, in which four promising clusters for the development of the Northern Netherlands were described a few years ago. Johan Sanders of Sanovations and Em professor at Wageningen University: “One of those promising clusters included carbohydrates for the production of chemicals. These types of ideas are usually left aside, but due to the enthusiasm of Klaas Zijlstra (ASQA), this has now been taken up again. He has put it on paper in a way that is feasible and connects parties with each other, which suddenly gives you enormous synergy.”
Klaas Zijlstra (director of ASQA): “We started by determining which polymers you could make via this fermentative route. Based on the input from market parties, we came up with a shortlist of chemical structures (monomers) that can lead to promising biopolymers with the desired properties. Consider stiffness/flexibility of the chain, degree of degradability of the polymer, reactivity, thermal stability. The preliminary research led to a project plan and subsidy application, which we submitted to the Northern Netherlands Partnership in May 2020. The SNN assesses applications on general aspects of sustainability (Triple-P), but also in the areas of feasibility, knowledge development, innovative content, accessibility for SMEs, the extent to which laboratory knowledge is valorized towards concrete market applications, etc. Our application achieved an exceptional high score: 95 out of 100 possible points and has been awarded a subsidy of almost € 1,1 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe.”
Not easy
Gert-Jan Euverink (professor of Biotechnology at the University of Groningen) is involved as research leader alongside Sanders. He emphasizes that it is not an easy project. “You have to make cheap sugars, be able to ferment anaerobically, and understand chemistry and polymerization. This anaerobic fermentation requires you to develop new micro-organisms. So we look at what is possible from biology and how we can get closest as possible to the molecules that the chemists need to make the polymers. That makes this project unique. Of course, there are also bacteria that make polymers themselves, such as PHAs. In this case, we choose a different route and let the bacteria make monomers, which the polymer chemists string together into a polymer. This is much more similar to the process of making polylactic acid. That also shows that it is possible.”
The ambition is high. Sanders: “Our challenge now is to make polyesters with the properties of polyethylene. Then you can very efficiently make a lot of mass of polyesters from those cheap sugars and thus also replace a lot of mass of polyethylene. In this way, you can still make great strides in saving CO2 with a limited agricultural area; If you can make a million tons of polyester to replace polyethylene, you will save almost 5 million tons of CO2 that currently comes from fossil raw materials. You do that with approximately 100.000 hectares of beets, with which you produce 2 million tons of sugars.”
Kick-off meeting
“We are now doing the preliminary work: determining what type of organisms we are going to use, for which specific building blocks,” says Euverink. “Then a cooperation agreement must be drawn up. We are going to develop new knowledge in this project and we also have to make good agreements about this. Any patent income will also have to benefit the participating parties.”
“At the end of the project we will have to be able to demonstrate the process at least on a 1.000-liter scale in fermentations outside the laboratory, for example at ZAP Groningen or in Wageningen, where we have large reactors. In addition, at the end we want to have developed a process in which we have raw materials to ferment all year round, without being dependent on the seasons. We need to stabilize the sugar beets that are now being harvested in such a way that we can still use them in May or June.”
There is currently more than enough carbohydrates available in the Northern Netherlands and Northern Germany. Sanders: “However, we try not to depend solely on sugar beet, because the harvest can be disappointing and then you will have to use other crops, such as corn and wheat. There are also options to obtain raw materials from the sea. The fact that we have alternatives helps to prevent price gouging once the factory is built.”
This article was produced in collaboration with ASQA Subsidies.
Image at top: left to right. Gerard Sanders, Gert-Jan Euverink, Klaas Zijlstra, image: Irene Brinkman
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