Kaneka Corporation latest project aim at biopolymer development

Kaneka Corporation, which has its headquarters in Tokyo, is in charge of a Japanese Green Innovation Fund project that aims to advance the technique of polymer synthesis by microorganisms utilizing CO2 as the primary raw material.

A gas fermentation biofoundry for CO2 will be built in collaboration with fellow Japanese businesses Bacchus Bio innovation, JGC Holdings, and Shimadzu Corporation for the research and enhancement of microorganisms that can produce biopolymers.

Based on the synthetic microbiology and polymer manufacturing processing technologies it has developed to date, Kaneka now hopes to make its Green Planet biodegradable polymer directly from CO2. Currently, it is produced by microorganisms from vegetable oil and other raw materials.

The business will next start up a partially commercial factory to show the benefits of industrialization.

By modernizing the platform and combining its patented technologies, Bacchus, a data-driven biofoundry startup, hopes to significantly reduce the breeding time of smart cells. Bacchus will construct cells that are optimized for gas fermentation and produce a wide range of species using its own digital technologies. Additionally, data from a high-throughput evaluation system created in collaboration with Shimadzu will be introduced and used.

JGC HD offers expert understanding of process scale-up from the oil and gas industry, safe handling of gases, including hydrogen gas, and optimized culture tank design technology. A safe handling system for mixed gases incorporating CO2, H2, and O2, as well as a gas fermentation process, will be developed and scaled up in this project.