Carbon recycling company LanzaTech has developed a process to turn waste CO2 gases into a fat for use in cosmetics and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The first step of the dual fermentation technology is similar to brewing beer, with the grain replaced by CO2 as the raw material.
In the second step of the fermentation process, developed primarily by the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, the alcohol produced from CO2 is transformed into specific fats by specialised oil yeasts.
Both fermentation stages exclusively used naturally occurring, non-genetically modified (non-GM) micro-organisms, the companies said on 2 September.
Following successful laboratory trials at Fraunhofer IGB and application tests in the Mibelle Group’s laboratories, the partners said they were moving into kilogram-scale production of the palm oil-like fat blend.
The fermentation processes developed at Fraunhofer IGB were being scaled up at the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in Leuna, a branch of Fraunhofer IGB, the companies said.
“Following successful research in the laboratory, we have now been able to start developing the pilot process,” said Susanne Heldmaier, head of research and technical innovation at the Mibelle Group.
“This is an important next step, at the end of which we will have the first quantities of a high-quality fat. This will enable us to develop cosmetic products that not only protect our skin but also contribute to protecting the environment. In the future, with the support of our raw material suppliers, we hope to be able to convert more and more palm oil-like raw materials.”
The new process could also be used in the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathway, widely used by the aviation industry but currently dependent on crops and waste oils as feedstocks, Interesting Engineering wrote on 4 September.
By transforming ethanol into synthetic oils that could be used as HEFA feedstocks, the technology could diversify and boost SAF production, the companies said.
