Aerobic and Anaerobic Fermentation of Gaseous and Liquid One Carbon Feedstocks to Produce Food, Feed, Biopolymers and Value-added Products

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Background

The growing world population demands increasing production of feed, food and materials. With the necessity for decarbonization, we have seen a shift towards renewable resources. Starch and sugar, which are produced agriculturally, are often the feedstock for these materials, creating a competition that has been known from biofuels scale-up. Agricultural operations are also associated with a burden on the environment through fertilizer production, water use and land-use change. Methane is an abundant feedstock, with approx. 4000 billion m³ available and the global biogas potential being approx. 1/3 of this number. Also, methane is accessible through biomass gasification and from other non-conventional sources such as landfills or abandoned coal mines, where today uncontrolled emissions create further pressure on the climate.

CO is available from synthesis gas e.g. from biomass gasification, and CO2 is an abundant by-product of many reactions. CH4, CO, CO2 and other C1-compounds are interesting feedstocks for fermentation as sole carbon sources. The microorganisms feeding on them can produce e.g. protein, which can be deployed as feed to various organisms in aquaculture operations, chicken or piglet farms, replacing non-sustainable fishmeal and soy. Also, direct consumption of such single-cell proteins (SCP) as food is possible, as it is being demonstrated by fungal- and algal-derived protein. Several biopolymers, such as PHB, PHBV and PLA can be obtained, too, as well as other value-added compounds.

What is appealing about C1 compounds in industrial biotechnology is that the process is scalable. It can provide large-volume streams of materials with lower environmental impact and vulnerability than traditional processing routes. With more pressure being placed on natural gas combustion and fugitive methane emissions, and progress in biomass gasification, in addition to the need to utilize/sequester CO2 waste streams, it can be expected that gas fermentation processes of C1 compounds will increase in importance in the near future. This Research Topic aims to shed light on the latest developments in the field.

In this Research Topic, leading researchers will present their original research on areas including (but not limited to):
• Fermentation (mostly aerobic) of C1 compounds (CH4, CO, CO2, etc.) as carbon sources for the production of polymers (PHB, PHBV and PLA), microbially produced proteins, production of single-cell proteins and other value-added compounds.
• Techno-economic assessments of industrial-scale fermentation processes
• Production of C1 compounds through biomass gasification and other processes
• Life cycle assessments of industrial/downstream processes involving liquid and gaseous C1 sources

Out of scope are geoengineering applications, biological fundamental research and product application development.

The Topic Editors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to affiliations with private companies, founding of a private company, receiving of any grants from a private company, holding shares of a private company, and/or holding patents.

Keywords: biogas, methane, fermentation, Value-Added Products, GMOs

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