Imagine taking the exhaust gas from a brewery and using it as food for tiny, engineered microbes. These microbes act like miniature factories, turning that pollution into proteins and oils. It is essentially turning air pollution into a barista drink or a beauty snack.
The food sector relies heavily on fossil and agricultural resources and struggles to decarbonize. There is a lack of scalable methods to turn industrial waste gases into high-value, food-grade nutrients.
An integrated, scalable EU platform that converts brewery CO2 into lactic acid, single cell protein, and microbial oils. This includes a digital twin for process optimization and two validated consumer products.
If you are a brewery dealing with high CO2 emissions—this project developed a scalable platform that converts those emissions into food-grade ingredients. This allows you to turn a waste stream into a new revenue source of proteins or oils.
If you are a food producer dealing with the high cost of agricultural protein sources—this project developed precision fermentation routes that create high-value ingredients. This enables the production of protein-rich barista beverages with a lower carbon footprint.
If you are a beauty brand dealing with the need for sustainable, functional ingredients—this project developed microbial oils and nutrients. These can be formulated into beauty food pouches that meet strict food-grade purity and safety standards.
Based on available project data, specific pricing is not provided, but the project uses Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) to ensure economic viability for industrial deployment.
The project is operating at a demonstration scale (TRL7), utilizing real CO2 emissions captured from a brewery to prove scalability.
Based on available project data, the project will deliver an open-access digital platform to support broader adoption and replication of the business models.
The process includes downstream processing routes specifically designed to ensure food-grade purity, safety, and regulatory compliance.
The project period runs from 2026-06-01 to 2030-05-31, suggesting industrial validation will be completed by May 2030.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with 9 industrial partners representing a 56% industry ratio. The presence of 11 SMEs suggests a focus on agile commercialization and specialized tech providers. With 16 partners across 8 European countries, the project is well-positioned for cross-border market entry and industrial scaling.
Contact AINIA in Spain for details on the scalable CO2-to-food platform.
Contact us to identify potential licensing opportunities for CO2-based fermentation.
