Producing high-quality protein with the help of CO2
The Austrian start-up Econutri GmbH, led by founder Dr. Helmut Schwab, has developed a groundbreaking technology in cooperation with the Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology in which harmful greenhouse gases serve as food for microorganisms to produce a high-quality protein. This innovative approach not only meets the increasing demand for protein, but also reducesCO2 emissions.
"Over fifty years ago, my doctoral supervisor already considered carbon dioxide, orCO2 for short, as a raw material and thought about what useful products could be created from it. For my dissertation, I also worked with an organism that is able to convert carbon dioxide into interesting molecules that can be used industrially," says Helmut Schwab, former head of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at TU Graz and co-founder of acib, the Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology.
Together with his daughter, the 73-year-old university professor "in retirement" founded the biotechnology start-up Econutri in 2021 with the aim of curbingCO2 emissions and at the same time developing an alternative, sustainable source of protein. To this end, the team used certain microorganisms that can useCO2 as a raw material, building on Schwab's existing research.
In 2022, the start-up installed a pilot plant on the premises of Graz University of Technology with a 300-liter reactor in which 20 kilos of protein could be produced within two days using gas fermentation. "At the end of the process, 'Cupriavidus necator' can store up to 80 percent of high-quality protein in its biomass - in an environmentally friendly and space-saving way," explains Schwab. This protein is vegan, organic and not genetically modified.
Possible areas of application include animal feed, human food and technical proteins. As a first step, Econutri is concentrating on animal feed, as this is the quickest to achieve and requires fewer steps in the processing. "It could also create an additional, alternative form of food production that does not require land for cultivation and grazing and uses fewer resources," says Schwab.
In the same year, Econutri and acib jointly received the Innovation Award Styria 2022 in the category "Sustainability: R&D Institutions" for their "Carbon Utilization Technology" - the name given to processes forCO2 capture and utilization.
Last year, RKP InnInvest invested a 6-figure sum in the company. "Econutri's vision is not just following a short-term trend, but will in future meet the increasing demand for protein from a growing world population, the conservation of soil and water, as well as health requirements for food," says Michaela Hold, Managing Director of RKP InnoInvest, with conviction.
Win-win situation
As soon as the protein can be produced on an industrial scale - for example by linking industrial plants such as cement works and bioreactors - it will deliver two valuable impacts at once: on the one hand, it can capture harmfulCO2 and, on the other, provide valuable protein for humans and animals that does not require any valuable resources such as soil, water or animals to be produced. A trial is currently being carried out at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna to determine whether the Econutri protein is suitable as fish feed.
