TACBIO
Thermoacidophilic cell factories for innovative biorefinery solutions
TACBIO aims to develop a new biobased process that enables fermentation at high temperature and low pH. This process can substitute current petrochemical processes, allow the industry to produce chemical products in a sustainable way, and reduce CO2 emissions.
Big challenge, small solution?
Replacing fossil-based petrochemical processes with biobased alternatives is a big challenge. The solution, however, may be small. Very small indeed, as TACBIO seeks to investigate how microbial single-celled organisms can be used to make important chemical products.
Versatile
The versatility of the organisms used in the project would allow for the valorisation of a wide variety of feedstocks, including lignocellulosic biomass, but also other organic materials and possibly CO2 gas streams. It would also allow for the production of a wide variety of products, especially acids such as 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP).
Additional advantages
The biobased fermentation process developed within TACBIO has additional advantages as well, compared to existing petrochemical processes. Because of a consolidated pretreatment/fermentation with in situ saccharification, cooling costs are lower, downstream processing is facilitated and contamination risks are minimized.
Impact
By developing a proof-of-concept for the biobased production of 3-HP, TACBIO will help Flemish industries step away from fossil-based production processes and significantly reduce their CO2 emissions.
Partners
