As part of NEDO’s “Development of Production Technologies for Bio-based Products to Accelerate the Realization of Carbon Recycling, The Green Earth Institute, Inc. https://gei.co.jp/en/ is constructing a demonstration base for microbial bioproduction processes (“The Kanto Biofoundry Base”) using two locations in Chiba Prefecture, its subsidiary in Kisarazu City and the Mobara Plant of Mitsui Chemicals. The Kanto Biofoundry Base will conduct process optimization and scale-up verification up to 3000 liters for commercial production of useful production candidate strains (smart cells) developed by companies, universities, research institutes and other users, as well as a human resource development program. More than 16 processes for the production of bio-derived compounds will be completed by FY2026, with the aim of commercialization.
The Kanto Biofoundry Base will contain:
- facilities for pretreatment and saccharification of biomass residues to produce raw sugar for microbial fermentation,
- process optimization using multiple fermenters ranging from 5L to a maximum of 1500L
- an efficient scale-up system using high-performance computational fluid dynamics and scale-down models with consecutive jars up to 30L
- trial production facilities with 300L and 3000L fermenters
- continuous fermentation systems
- analytical facilities
Due to facility limitations, purification and sample production of low to mid-molecular weight will be outsourced.
In the latter half of FY2022, a human resource development program (NEDO special course) will be introduced, with lectures on fermentation production process optimization and scale-up methods. Companies, universities, research institutes, etc. are invited to conduct bio production demonstrations from FY2022 onward.
