Imagine taking sawdust and wood scraps from a sawmill and turning them into high-protein food for fish. Instead of letting these scraps rot or burning them, the process captures carbon and uses bacteria to grow protein. It's like turning air and wood waste into a nutrient-rich meal for aquaculture.
The aquafeed industry relies heavily on expensive, imported, and carbon-intensive proteins like soy and wild fish. There is an urgent need for local, low-footprint protein sources to ensure food security.
A carbon-negative process that converts sawmill residues into Single Cell Protein (SCP) and biochar. Deliverables include lab-scale optimized processes, pre-engineering designs, and techno-economic models for full-scale plants.
If you are a feed manufacturer dealing with high costs and supply gaps of imported soy and wild fish protein — this project developed a carbon-negative single cell protein (SCP) that provides a sustainable alternative. It aims to produce 120kt/year of feed ingredients by 2033.
If you are a sawmill operator dealing with low-value wood residues — this project developed a CCU process that converts these by-products into high-value proteins and biochar. It can process 160kt/year of forest residues to create a new revenue stream.
If you are a feed producer dealing with the environmental footprint of traditional animal feed — this project developed biochar as a byproduct of the protein process. This allows for the creation of carbon-negative animal feed ingredients.
The project aims for cost-competitive SCP production, with an expected market value of €175m for the 120kt/year of fish/animal feed produced by 2033.
The target scale by 2033 is to process 160kt/year of forest residues and capture 200kt of CO2-e annually from syngas.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project involves a consortium of 13 partners including 5 industry players to mature the technology for commercial adoption.
The innovations are scheduled to be validated at pilot scale by 2025, with full-scale targets projected for 2033.
The process is designed for vertical integration, using only sawmill residues (no sawlogs) as feedstock to produce SCP and biochar.
The consortium is highly commercially oriented, with 13 partners including 5 industry members (38% industry ratio) and 4 SMEs. The balance between 6 research institutes and 2 universities suggests a strong focus on translating lab results into industrial application, covering the entire value chain across 5 European countries.
WAI Environmental Solutions AS (Norway)
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for carbon-negative protein production.
