17-ERACoBioTech: Sustainable production of added value chemicals from SynGas-derived methanol through Systems and Synthetic Biology approaches

社会面临的最大挑战之一是未来可持续地利用非石化资源生产化学品和燃料，同时减少温室气体排放。由于木质纤维素不愿以原料为目的进行解构，这使得以生物为基础的工艺的经济发展极具挑战性。这导致了使用低成本、丰富的一碳(C1)原料的概念。这里的重点是使用碳1气体，如CO/CO2和CH4，这些气体来自工业过程的废物、厌氧消化或通过气化任何含有生物质的废物(农业/林业残留物和城市固体废物)或页岩气改造而故意形成的合成气(合成气)。这样的做法并不是没有问题。在反应器中，气体向液体中的传质限制了反应器的设计和性能，而在好氧底盘的情况下，额外的H2和O2的存在具有潜在的爆炸性。相比之下，甲醇作为液体，在发酵罐中不受传质问题的影响，更容易储存和运输。它可以由许多可持续的原料制成，包括生物质、垃圾、沼气、废二氧化碳，甚至可再生电力。因此，使用甲醇作为原料制造化学品和燃料的理由是令人信服的。在这个名为BIOMETCHEM的项目中，我们将利用在为一种被称为真细菌的细菌开发有效遗传系统方面取得的进展，以获得能够从生物质衍生甲醇中生产附加值产品的工程菌株。过程菌株将通过跨学科方法的组合得到，包括系统生物学(INSA，图卢兹大学)、合成生物学(联合国内罗毕办事处，诺丁汉大学)、代谢工程(ULM，乌尔姆大学)、酶学(UFRA，法兰克福大学)和甲醇发酵开发(All Partners)。负责任的研究创新(RRI)实践将通过诺丁汉合成生物学研究中心(SBRC)的专职社会科学家参与，纳入工作方案。生命周期分析(LCA)和技术经济分析(TEA)将由诺丁汉与Johnson Matthee合作进行。BIOMETCHEM将基于来自气化(合成气)生物质残渣和废物或工业副产品(FT废气)的甲醇原料，开发新的可持续生产和转化工艺。这将产生新的增值产品，分别用于制药/食品添加剂行业和化学工业。最终，所取得的发展将导致新的可持续工业流程。此外，通过整合资源和专业知识，BIOMETCHEM将三个不同国家(法国、德国和英国)的研究伙伴与不同但互补的科学和技术专业知识联系起来，从而最大化资源并分担风险、成本和技能。与会者代表了欧洲在厌氧代谢方面的一些领先专家，特别是C1原料。它们的专业知识和资源的融合提供了与世界其他地区竞争所需的临界量。

One of the greatest challenges facing society is the future sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from non-petrochemical resources while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The recalcitrance of lignocellulose to deconstruction for feedstock purposes is making the economic development of biologically-based processes extremely challenging. This has led to the concept of using low-cost, abundant one-carbon (C1) feedstocks. Here the focus has been on using C1 gases, such as CO/CO2 and CH4, sourced as a waste from industrial processes, anaerobic digestion or deliberately formed as synthesis gas (syngas) through the gasification of any waste containing biomass (agricultural/ forestry residues and municipal solid waste) or by the reformation of shale gas. Such an approach is not without its issues. The mass transfer of gases into the liquid phase in reactors places constraints on reactor design and performance, while in the case of aerobic chassis the additional presence of H2, and O2 is potentially explosive. In contrast, as a liquid, methanol does not suffer from mass transfer issues in fermenters and is more easily stored and transported. It can be made from many sustainable feedstocks, including biomass, MSW, biogas, waste CO2, and even renewable electricity.The case for using methanol as a feedstock to make chemicals and fuels is, therefore, compelling. In this project, BIOMETCHEM, we will exploit the progress made in developing effective genetic systems for a bacterium known as Eubacterium limosum to derive engineered strains able to produce the value-added products from biomass derived methanol. Process strain will be derived through a combination of interdisciplinary methodologies, including systems biology (INSA, University of Toulouse), synthetic biology (UNOTT, University of Nottingham), metabolic engineering (ULM, University of Ulm), enzymology (UFRA, University of Frankfurt), and methanol fermentation development (All Partners). Responsible Research Innovation (RRI) practices will be embedded within the programme of work through the participation of dedicated Social Scientists from the Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC) at Nottingham. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) will be undertaken by Nottingham in partnership with Johnson Matthey. BIOMETCHEM will lead to the development of new Sustainable production and conversion processes based on methanol feedstocks derived from gasified (syngas) biomass residues and wastes or from industrial by-products (FT waste streams). This will lead to new value-added products, useful in the pharmaceutical/food additive industries and the chemical industry, respectively.Ultimately, the developments made will lead to new sustainable industrial processes. Moreover, by combining resources and expertise, BIOMETCHEM connects research partners in three different countries (France, Germany and UK) with different but complementary scientific and technological expertise, thereby maximising resources and sharing the risks, costs and skills. The participants represent some of Europe's leading experts in anaerobic metabolism, and in particular C1 feedstocks. The amalgamation of their expertise and resources provides the critical mass needed to compete with the rest of the world.