ENGICOIN Overview

The ENGICOIN proposal aims at the development, from TRL3 to TRL5, of three new microbial factories (MFs), integrated in an organic waste anaerobic digestion (AD) platform, based on engineered strains exploiting CO2 sources and renewable solar radiation or H2 for the production of value-added chemicals, namely:

MF.1

The cyanobacteria Synechocystis to produce lactic acid from either biogas combustion flue gases or pure and costless CO2 streams from biogas-to-biomethane purification.

MF.2

The aerobic and toxic metal tolerant Ralstonia eutropha to produce PHA bioplastics from biogas combustion flue gases and complementary carbon sources derived from the AD digestate.

MF.3

The anaerobic Acetobacterium woodii to produce acetone from the CO2 stream from biogas-to-biomethane purification.

High process integration will be guaranteed by taking advantage of low-grade heat sources, exploitable side gas streams, low-price electricity produced during night-time by a biogas-fired-engine cogeneration unit or even intensified operation conditions. This is an essential feature, to achieve competitive selling prices for the key target products.

Notwithstading the key application platform, the innovative production processes developed have a great exploitation potential in other application contexts!