Speaker: Katrina Stewart, P.Eng., Project Environmental and Biochemical Engineer, Cv̄ictus

Topic: Single Cell Protein (SCP) and the potential of a methanol-based fermentation industry in Alberta

Cv̄ictus: While energy dominates climate discussions, the world's agri-food systems account for about 30% of human caused GHG emissions. Unless mitigated, food system GHG emissions could increase by 50-80% by 2050. Most of agriculture's GHG emissions come from livestock, production of animal feed, and land use changes caused by the massive footprint of animal feed and forage. Non-photosynthetic feed can reduce the huge and destructive footprint of animal feed and forage and allow more trees to remove gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Cv̄ictus can produce globally impactful volumes of our single cell protein (SCP), Crute, that can enable large scale reforestation, reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, replenish oceans, and nourish a growing world population. Crute is produced through the continuous fermentation of methylotrophic bacteria on supplied methanol and supplement micronutrients. The dried biomass is an extremely high-quality protein with an amino acid profile similar to fishmeal, the gold standard, while remaining cost competitive with soybean meal, the dominant low-cost protein.

Cv̄ictus plans to bolt production of SCP onto the facility it is building east of Red Deer to produce synthesis gas, hydrogen, methanol and ultimately SCP, through our upstream patented Enhanced Hydrogen Recovery™ (EHR™) technology. Fermentation using methanol as a substrate has the potential to create a new Alberta Advantage in biotechnology. The current dominant fermentation uses E. coli with sugar as a substrate. Alberta is a small player in this existing market. But Alberta could lead industrial fermentation based on methanol which has real potential to produce similar bio-products, only more productive and lower cost, and to make fossil fuel derived methanol part of the solution to climate change.