From lignocellulosic biomass to chemical wealth
- Project lead
- Mauro Adriel Rinaldi
- Institute
- University of Hull
Summary:
Our society desperately needs to transition away from petrochemicals in the manufacturing of high-value chemicals to meet global sustainability and carbon goals. These everyday chemicals include life-saving medicines, agrichemicals, and flavours and fragrances in our toothpaste and cleaning products. The challenge is that manufacturing of carbon-based chemicals cannot be decarbonised, and biomass is the only material abundant enough to displace petrochemicals. However, bio-based conversion of biomass into chemicals is challenging and has relatively low yields.
We propose a new solution. In this project, we strategically partnered with a company that specialises in purifying cellulose from biomass (wood waste). We will use this cellulose as a feedstock to grow chemical-producing microbes in an industrial biotechnology approach. We will use engineering biology to create subcellular compartments and new microbial industrial strains to overcome production limitations given by chemical toxicity.
These bio-produced chemicals will supply a large chemical manufacturer with renewable carbon, sustainable chemicals that can be readily incorporated into their processes and products to meet the demand from a new responsible consumer culture. We will thus build a whole supply chain and give industrial partners competitive advantages. In collaboration with chemical engineers, we will conduct techno-economic and life cycle assessments to evaluate the commercial viability and sustainability claims of the technology, respectively, and guide future development.
We thus aim to provide environmentally friendly options for UK consumers while contributing to national Net Zero targets and growing the Bioeconomy aiming to establish the UK as a global leader of low carbon chemical production.
Aims:
• Demonstrate that waste-wood–derived purified cellulose (Lixea) can feed engineered microbes to make high-value chemicals.
• Improve production using “synthetic organelles” that protect cells from toxic products and increase titres.
• Establish simple, repeatable lab protocols and 1-litre bioreactor runs.
• Connect the supply chain from Lixea (feedstock) to Croda (end-user) for real-world relevance.
• Generate inputs for future techno-economic and life-cycle assessments and a route to products.
Outcomes:
We demonstrated that purified cellulose made from waste wood (supplied by Lixea) can serve as a practical feedstock for microbial manufacture of high-value chemicals. In laboratory flasks and a 1-litre bioreactor, production from this renewable feedstock was comparable to using conventional sugars, showing that forestry residues can underpin cleaner routes to the same types of products.
We established straightforward, repeatable methods for pre-treating the feedstock, running fermentations and analysing products, and we built a panel of DNA tools to produce multiple target molecules. We also found handling insights that will guide future deployment—for example, wet cellulose performed better than dried material—supporting the case for locating production close to the feedstock source.
To improve performance, we evaluated “synthetic organelles” (tiny oil-like compartments formed inside cells) to protect microbes from the products they make. This approach increased titres for some targets, demonstrating the concept that intracellular compartmentalisation can lift productivity without changing standard equipment or workflows.
We commissioned a new bioreactor and translated the methods to controlled conditions, identifying operating settings that now support routine runs. Beyond the lab, the project helped connect the supply chain—from Lixea as a renewable-carbon supplier to a potential end-user such as Croda—clarifying how sustainable ingredients could move from biomass to real products.
Together, these outcomes show a feasible route from UK forestry residues to greener chemicals, provide methods that others can adopt, and set the stage for continued optimisation and scale-up.
Impact:
This project demonstrates renewable-carbon routes to high-value chemicals from forestry residues, supporting lower-carbon manufacturing. It provides simple, transferable methods and builds in-house capability. It also strengthens supply-chain links from Lixea to potential end-users such as Croda, laying foundations for optimisation, scale-up and future commercialisation.
Academic partners: Mauro Rinaldi and Stavros Michailos, University of Hull
Industrial partners: Florence Gschwend and Marcus Elmer, Lixea Ltd; Lixea Sweden AB
Dr. Mauro Rinaldi (PI) and Dr. Emma Chapman (Research Technician), University of Hull
