The first Innovator for Dragons’ Den of Transition 2021 has been announced. On December 8th Deep Branch asks the Dragons for help to find a suitable location to produce at full scale proteins from CO2 and hydrogen.
The British-Dutch biotech company Deep Branch uses CO2, water, hydrogen and micro-organisms to make high-quality proteins suitable as feedstock. The CO2 emissions of this process are ninety percent lower than processes currently used to make proteins.
Poultry and farmed fish in Europe are now fed with fishmeal and soy, mainly from South America. ‘This is not at all sustainable, because the seas are being fished empty and the rainforest is being damaged. Moreover, the transport of these proteins is environmentally damaging,’ says Peter Rowe, co-founder and CEO of Deep Branch.
Chicken food
The technology has already been proven in the lab and on a smaller scale. And in the first half of 2021, the company built a pilot plant at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleen. Rowe: ‘The pilot plant is essential for finding the right recipes for ProtonTM as the new nutrient has been christened. The protein is used in salmon and chicken feed by BioMar and AB Agri, two leading European market players in animal nutrition.’
Request for help
Meanwhile, Deep Branch is facing the next step. Scaling up to the first commercial-scale plant. In the Dragons’ Den of Transition, Deep Branch therefore asks for help in finding a suitable location for a so-called Market Launch Facility (MLF). This will be a site of approximately 4,000 square meters with access to local sources of CO2 and hydrogen. The MLF will be built with all unit operations completely representative of full scale production.
EIES2021
Dragons’ Den of Transition is the closing event of European Industry and Energy Summit 2021 (EIES2021). More information on the event on 7 and 8 December in Rotterdam Ahoy.
