Sojitz Corporation, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Green Earth Institute Co., Ltd., DIC Corporation, Toray Industries, Inc., and Daicel Corporation, have concluded an agreement with Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for a joint project focused on the development of revolutionary biomanufacturing technology to engineer hydrogen oxidizing bacteria that utilize CO2. This project was selected for sponsorship under NEDO's Green Innovation Fund Project category, "Promotion of Carbon Recycling Using CO2 from Biomanufacturing Technology as a Direct Raw Material." This project entails R&D for manufacturing a variety of chemical products and feed raw materials from CO2 and H2. This new biomanufacturing technology will be the world's first example of a commercialized bioprocess directly using CO2 and H2 for productions of chemicals and presents a promising option for realizing a carbon neutral society. The hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium to be engineered is one of microorganisms that have fastest CO2 fixation rate. Leveraging this high fixation capacity through genetic engineering, it is possible to engineer bacterial strains that can produce useful chemical products with high efficiency. The resulting compounds are then used as raw materials in a wide variety of daily applications including plastics, ink, paint, textiles, and cosmetics. Additionally, the bacterial residues produced in the biomanufacturing process from the biomanufacturing process can be utilized as an alternative protein source for feed which presents a solution to the recent rise in
demand for alternative protein sources. This biomanufacturing technology will therefore simultaneously raise the decarbonization value of businesses and provide a solution to food problems. Alongside the development of bacterial strains, scale-up demonstrations will be conducted to establish a safe and highly efficient gas fermentation method and to accurately measure CO2 reduction effects to add environmental benefits to products. All six organizations will combine their acquired expertise, technologies, and functions to realize social implementation of this next generation biomanufacturing technology in order to advance the structural transformation of chemical products and materials industries which address growing decarbonization needs. Project Duration: Consignment contract period: fiscal year 2023 - fiscal year 2025. Total project duration (planned): fiscal year 2023 - fiscal year 2030. Total Project Costs: Approximately JPY 6.8 billion, (fiscal year 2023 - fiscal year 2030). Role and Responsibilities of Each Organization: Sojitz Corporation: For this project, Sojitz will serve as project manager, conduct product marketing, and carry out demonstrations. Additionally, Sojitz will build a supply chain and realize commercialization through the development of derivative products and high-added-value products as well as pursue essential infrastructure development for hydrogen, a raw material required for this biomanufacturing technology, to realize social implementation. Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry: For this project, CRIEPI aims to develop the foundational technology to culture hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria that enable to utilize CO2 as a raw material resource. In order to ensure the safe and efficient use of gas, CRIEPI seeks to carry out demonstrations for the culture process up to the pilot scale. Furthermore, CRIEPI will conduct Life Cycle - CO2 assessments for the chemical production process to estimate the CO2 reduction effects when biomanufacturing replaces petrochemical production. Green Earth Institute Co., Ltd.: In this project, GEI will engineer hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria to produce raw materials for manufacturing bioplastics. In addition, GEI will perform the investigation of scaling-up of hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria culture to the pilot scale and operation of the pilot-scale tests. DIC Corporation:
As a global chemical manufacturer, DIC will leverage its strengths in a variety of basic technologies and biomaterial design technologies. DIC will utilize the bacteria developed by GEI in order to pursue development and demonstration tests for biochemical production processes. DIC aims to contribute to the realization of a carbon neutral society through commercialization of sustainable biochemicals produced using hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria. Toray Industries, Inc.: In this project, Toray Industries will leverage its biotechnologies to develop hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria that can produce monomers directly from CO2. At the same time, Toray Industries will undertake demonstrations for production processes with the aim of building a supply chain for its products manufactured from CO2. Daicel Corporation: In this project, Daicel will conduct technology development and production verification to produce cosmetic ingredients from CO2. By replacing conventional petroleum-based chemical processes with CO2-derived bio-processes and offering
highly refined products, Daicel aims to contribute to a carbon-neutral society.