Innovative Solutions Consortium to Transform CO2 into Nutritious Food

Related Vendors

Haldor Topsoe A/S

Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Italvacuum, Srl

A consortium which consists of universities and private companies including Topsoe has developed a technology which has the potential to produce protein alternatives to feed 1 billion people annually.

Lyngby/Denmark – Topsoe is part of a consortium funded by the Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation that aims to transform CO2 into nutritious food. This revolutionary consortium, which was established in 2023, has progressed the project to its second development stage.

The consortium emerged on the heels of a severe hunger crisis globally. According to the UN-established World Food Program, more than 295 million people around the world experienced acute levels of hunger in 2024 – an increase of 13.7 million from 2023.[1] The technology developed under the consortium has the potential to produce protein alternatives to feed 1 billion people every year.

Poul Georg Moses, Chief Technology Officer, Power-to-X, at Topsoe, said: “This is a dire real-world problem we are attempting to solve for. That's why we’re proud to be an active partner and help move forward in this promising project, where science-based solutions can ultimately mean food for more people. In this next phase, we’re creating a solid evidence base for the technologies and concepts, paving the way for an up-coming demonstration of the project’s potential.”

Claus Felby, Vice President for Agri-Food at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, said: “We need tangible solutions that can feed more people without putting pressure on our natural resources in the process. When the consortium began its work two years ago, making food derived from CO2 seemed like something taken from a science fiction movie. Within the next two years, we can expect to see actual prototypes of food products that will be tested by consumers. The collaboration in the consortium is a good example of what we can achieve with biosolutions when researchers and companies combine their strengths and work towards a common goal.”

The consortium consists of universities and private companies and has been working with a radically new approach to food production that makes it possible to replace sugar in fermentation processes with CO₂-derived acetate (more commonly known as vinegar).

As part of the consortium, Topsoe is providing technical expertise and insights as well as its Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC), and e-methanol loop technology. In the first phase of the project (beginning in 2023), Topsoe explored several process routes from CO2 via SOEC to intermediates for acetate production and constructed pilots for larger scale validation of its electrolysis and methanol technologies.

The second phase of the project will focus on optimizing and scaling the technologies and methods as well as developing and testing food prototypes. In this stage, Topsoe will closely collaborate with Aarhus University in Denmark on an integrated validation process, making sure valuable lessons for a further demonstration phase is learned. Topsoe will also refine process routes through Life Cycle Assessments of possible routes conducted in collaboration with key partners in the consortium.

The acetate consortium: Partners and funding

Moving forward, the consortium will consist of the following partners:

• Copenhagen Process Aps

• Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Aarhus University

• Department of Food and Resource Economy, University of Copenhagen

• Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen

• Northwestern University

• Novonesis

• Orkla

• Spora Aps

• The Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center (CORC)

• Topsoe

The total funding budget is up to DKK 162.2 million (21.7 million euros) and covers a two-year period (2025-2027). The funding is split evenly between Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Phase 1 results

• Development of microbial strains that grow on 100 % acetate and contain >40 % protein

• Completion of pilot facilities at Aarhus University in Denmark for acetate feedstock

• Identification of key cost drivers: electricity and infrastructure

Topsoe’s electrolysis technology

Topsoe’s solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) technology is a modular design that operates at significantly higher temperatures compared to other electrolyzer technologies – a tested and proven process that enables industrial-scale production of green hydrogen using renewable electricity.

When coupled with waste heat from downstream production (from processes producing ammonia, methanol or steel production), Topsoe’s SOEC technology will produce more hydrogen per total power input when compared to conventional electrolyzer technologies. It further allows for the lowest levelized hydrogen cost per megawatt volume, no matter the industry.

The SOEC electrolyzers have proven their efficiency through a successful performance test at Topsoe’s SOEC demonstration plant in Frederikssund, Denmark. The test revealed exceptional efficiencies and reliability at an industrial scale.

(ID:50566410)