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Novonesis is working with Technical University of Denmark (DTU)’s Bright Biofoundry, aiming to accelerate the development of sustainable protein by converting waste carbon dioxide into nutritious food ingredients at an industrial scale.
The partnership operates under the umbrella of The Acetate Consortium, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in 2023 with backing from the Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The consortium brings together industry and academic players, including energy tech group Topsoe, to tackle one of the food sector’s most pressing sustainability challenges – reducing reliance on land- and resource-intensive agriculture – by transforming captured CO₂ into viable protein sources.
At the core of the collaboration is a technical hurdle that has limited progress in carbon-based food production: enabling microbes to efficiently consume acetate derived from captured CO₂.
Conventional fermentation processes rely on glucose from agricultural crops, while most microorganisms struggle to metabolise acetic acid from captured carbon effectively. Bright researchers will work alongside Novonesis to address this limitation by engineering yeast strains capable of thriving on acetate.
Using advanced evolutionary engineering techniques, the team will focus on improving microbial tolerance to acetate, increasing consumption rates, enhancing protein yields and reducing fermentation time and cost, key factors for commercial viability.
Adam Feist, who is leading the project at Bright, said, “This is where evolution becomes a design tool. We are evolving microbes to perform in ways that make industrial sense, not just proving they can survive on low-carbon inputs.”
The work will be conducted through Bright's automated, high-throughput biofoundry platform, enabling rapid strain optimisation at a scale significantly faster than traditional lab methods.
The collaboration reflects a growing convergence between industrial biotechnology and food innovation, as companies seek scalable alternatives to conventional protein production.
Novonesis brings decades of expertise in microbial strain development, while DTU contributes cutting-edge capabilities in microbial evolution and systems biology.
“We’re very excited that Bright will join forces with us to help turn captured CO₂ into a nutritious protein source,” said Claus Crone Fuglsang, chief scientific officer at Novonesis. “Together, we aim to develop microorganisms that grow faster, tolerate acetate more effectively and deliver higher protein yields.”
According to Jochen Förster, director of the Bright Biofoundry, the partnership highlights the importance of aligned expertise in tackling complex sustainability challenges. “This collaboration shows what it takes to make an impact, bringing together complementary capabilities and a willingness to work through complexity.”
As food manufacturers face mounting pressure to decarbonise supply chains and diversify protein sources, CO₂-derived ingredients represent a potentially transformative solution. By decoupling protein production from arable land, technologies like acetate-based fermentation could help stabilise supply, reduce environmental impact and support global food security.
