GoodByO

Multi-commodities microbial-driven BiOrefinery based on food-processing industry wastes, biogenic CO2 and bioprocess wastewaters

Project details

Type of project: Research & Innovation Action
Project focus: Bio-based chemicals
Feedstock origin: Organic waste
Feedstock type: Industrial waste streams

Project period: 1 October 2024 - 31 March 2028
Status: In progress
CBE JU Contribution: € 4 929 06
Call identifier: HORIZON-JU-CBE-2023

Summary

Manufacturing is the leading CO₂ emission industry in Europe. It needs disruptive solutions to reduce emissions, such as leveraging biogenic organic residues and CO₂-based feedstocks.

GoodByO aims to create a new generation biorefinery using food waste, biogenic CO₂, and bioprocess wastewaters to produce bio-based products. The project will implement this visionary concept at the ChainCraft BV bio-plant by making use of its gaseous and liquid side-streams as sustainable zero-cost feedstocks. By exploiting the metabolic diversity of microbial catalysts, GoodByO will develop and validated at TRL5 four different microbial factories . The project will also design an in silico renewable energy system capable of sustaining the fluctuating demand of the integrated biorefinery over time, by adopting biomethanation process as grid-balancing system. GoodByO will produce bio-octanoic acid, bio-hexanol, carotenoids, microbial proteins and organic fertilisers meeting market requirements at cost-competitive selling price with benchmarks. This will encourage end-user companies to replace fossil- and palm-oil based products with bio-based ones. The successful scale-up of GoodByO processes and the market penetration will strongly increase EU global leadership in the manufacturing -industry while advancing the biotechnology sectors using CO₂ too.

GoodByO is developing a new generation multipurpose biorefinery with technologies using carbon and waste-based processes to create novel cost-efficient and sustainable bio-based products. To achieve this, GoodByO will:

Develop a pioneering large-scale production of valuable bio-octanoic acid by using waste from the food processing industry and gas fermentation liquid effluent as co-substrate; additionally generating two residue streams that can be used as zero-cost feedstock for other microbial-based value chains.
Develop a novel gas fermentation process based on the acetogenic bacterium Clostridium carboxidivorans for bio-hexanol production from the CO₂ fraction of biogas plus green H2, with the use of the exhaust microbial biomass for animal feed.
Using bioprocess wastewaters as feedstock and an innovative photobioreactor system to develop a cost-effective process for microalgal carotenoid production, and biomass protein use as animal feed.
Developing a novel biological anaerobic biogas desulfurization process combined with sulphur-rich microbial biomass recovery as organic bio-fertilisers.
Obtaining stable and transferable production performance for scale-up and commercialisation by validating the long-term stability and flexibility of the developed biocatalyst and continuous bioprocesses with real feedstocks at TRL5.
Mapping, quantifying, and covering the biorefinery energy needs with a renewable energy-based power supply system using biomethanation as an intermediate energy storage strategy.
Developing a consolidated roadmap for the scale-up and commercialisation of GoodByO technologies .

GoodByO is expected to advance the EU’s global leadership in sustainable biotech-based manufacturing industries in line with the CBE JU goals, by:

Consolidating EU’s research and infrastructure capacity in biotechnology and fermentation tech.
Setting an example for biorefineries and showing the feasibility and viability of integrating different microbial-based manufacturing processes.
Promoting the use of biogenic CO₂ streams and biorefinery waste effluents as zero-cost feedstocks.
Minimising EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by offering a greener solution to companies.
Reducing freshwater consumption by recycling bioprocess water effluents.
Decreasing EU’s agricultural land use for animal feed production by offering sustainable solutions to conventional animal feed.
Encouraging the uptake of bio-based products by end users to substitute fossil- and palm-oil based products .
Defossilising EU’s manufacturing industries.
Increasing the EU’s raw material security, by reducing imports of fossil fuel and palm oil.
Promoting the chemical storage of green H2 within consumer goods.
Boosting integration of biorefinery and renewable energy sectors.