This project builds on the results of the GreenToGreen project – municipal green waste as a basis for green chemistry. In that project, the use of press juice from green waste as a fermentation medium for various organisms was established. Within the framework of the "GreenProScale" project, the processes for enzyme extraction and the fermentative production of platform chemicals, which were established on a laboratory scale, are being scaled up to a pilot scale.
The starting material for the project is weakly lignified biomass. Press juices are extracted from this biomass and used as a sustainable substrate for fermentations and enzyme production. The focus is on the cultivation of Cupriavidus necator, Clostridia, and Ustilago maydis for the production of humulenes, butyric acid, and itaconic acid. Another promising area of research involves the extraction of peroxidases, which are important for the processing of phenols. The potential application of these technologies in wastewater treatment is particularly promising, offering additional ecological benefits.
The central focus of the project is on identifying critical scale-up parameters for both press juice production and the cultivation and enzyme extraction processes. Only once these parameters are understood can a successful scale-up to a 30-liter scale be achieved. Special emphasis is placed on the robustness of the biotechnological system. In this context, robustness means that fluctuations in the process should have minimal negative impact on the resulting quantity and quality of the products. Since fluctuations in the composition of the starting materials cannot be avoided, these must be taken into account in process development. The use of press juices as an energy-efficient substrate forms the basis for the realization of a future-oriented, resource-efficient, and sustainable biotechnology.
