In the face of a burgeoning climate crisis and an ever-increasing demand for sustainable protein sources, NovoNutrients is pioneering a groundbreaking solution by transforming carbon dioxide emissions into valuable food and animal feed ingredients. Utilizing an innovative approach, the company captures carbon dioxide and combines it with hydrogen and oxygen derived from renewable energy sources to feed specific species of bacteria. These bacteria, in turn, absorb small, inorganic molecules to reproduce, creating natural proteins, lipids, vitamins, and enzymes in the process.
NovoNutrients’ bacterial platform is remarkably versatile, capable of producing a wide array of products. From high-protein natural ingredients to specialty nutrients like the potent antioxidant astaxanthin, the applications are vast. The company’s proprietary looping gas bioreactors and sophisticated bio-manufacturing processes allow for precise control and optimization of fermentation conditions. This enables the production process to be finely tuned, maximizing the yield of biomass or the most valuable compounds. As a result, NovoNutrients can produce ingredients suitable for pet food, plant-based meats, dairy alternatives, and specialty feed additives like astaxanthin.
To further enhance and expand the capabilities of their bacterial platform, NovoNutrients employs several advanced synthetic biology techniques. Directed evolution involves iterative rounds of selection to enhance desirable traits in natural bacteria, ensuring optimal performance. Additionally, precision fermentation leverages genetic engineering, using modular plasmids that can be expressed in different bacterial strains or integrated into the bacterial genome to modify metabolic pathways. This combination of methods allows for the fine-tuning of bacterial functions, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the production process.
NovoNutrients has already achieved significant milestones, including regulatory approval in Japan for their products across all animal feed categories. The successful production of astaxanthin serves as a compelling proof-of-concept, demonstrating the versatility and potential of their platform.
As a nimble startup, NovoNutrients is strategically focused on forming partnerships to advance product development and scale-up manufacturing capabilities. Their innovative carbon-to-protein platform offers a dual benefit: it provides CO2 emitters with a profitable pathway to decarbonization while tapping into the rapidly growing market for alternative proteins and the green hydrogen economy. Notably, the manufacturing costs remain consistent across different products, further underscoring the economic viability of their approach.
NovoNutrients stands at the forefront of a new era in sustainable food and feed production. By turning harmful carbon emissions into valuable resources, the company is not only addressing urgent environmental challenges but also paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient food system.
