Calysta

Calysta is a multinational biotechnology firm based in Menlo Park, California. The company is chiefly involved in the development of industrial processes that utilize microorganisms to convert methane into protein for seafood and livestock feed[1] and other useful products like fuel and plastics.[2][3] Calysta operates a demonstration plant in Teesside, England,[4] that uses methanotroph organisms to convert methane into single cell protein (made from bacteria[5]) currently approved for use in fish and livestock feed in the European Union.[4][6] Calysta is a spinout of DNA 2.0, the largest US-based provider of synthetic genes for industrial and academic use.[7]

Calysta
Private
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded2012 (2012)
FounderJosh Silverman
Headquarters
Menlo Park, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Alan Shaw (CEO)
ProductsProtein for animal and fish feed
Websitecalysta.com

History

Calysta was formed in 2012 in Menlo Park, California.[2][8] Calysta was founded by Josh Silverman.[4] and is led by CEO Alan Shaw, a chemist who previously worked to turn waste from crop production into biofuels.[1][9]

By June 2013, Calysta began working with NatureWorks to use methane fermentation to produce lactic acid.[10][11] However, Calysta's main technological development is based on a method originally developed in the 1980s by Statoil,[12] an unrelated and state-owned energy company in Norway. In 2014, Calysta purchased the technology and further developed it in an effort to use the methanotroph microbes to convert methane gas into other useful products like protein for animal feed.[6] In March 2015, Aqua-Spark (an aquaculture investment firm based in the Netherlands) initially invested $2 million into Calysta.[13] Using the ten-million-dollar total funding from investors including Aqua-Spark, Calysta began "an engineering and feasibility study" to determine the viability of a mass production facility.[14]

In January 2016, Calysta began building its first production facility in Teesside, England. The production center is being developed with a supplemental grant of £2.8 million ($3.7 million) from the UK Government.[15] Also in early 2016, Calysta announced it had raised $30 million in funding led by Cargill, an American agribusiness corporation.[12]

Calysta's Teesside facility opened in September 2016.[16] The facility is dedicated to the production of the company's chief product which it branded as FeedKind.[17] Calysta raised an additional $40 million in May 2017 from existing investors and new investors including Japan's Mitsui & Co. and Singapore's Temasek Holdings.[1][18][19] At the end of 2016, Calysta and Cargill announced that Cargill was building a new facility near Memphis, Tennessee.[20] The site was previously occupied by a Cargill sweetener manufacturing facility.[21][22] The joint-venture facility named NouriTech broke ground in April 2017 and is expected to employ 160 people and utilize advanced automation.[23][24]

Operations

Calysta's processes rely on methanotrophs (specifically Methylococcus capsulatus[6]) which naturally convert methane into methanol by use of an enzyme called methane monooxygenase.[25] Methanotrophs are prokaryotes, organisms that metabolize methane as their only source of energy and cellular material like carbon.[26] Calysta is mainly concentrated on producing an alternative yet non-genetically modified protein for use in commercial feed.[6][22][27] Protein produced from methane is being offered as a substitute or supplement in the farmed fish industry which conventionally employs fishmeal and fish oil as its source of protein.[13]

Currently, the company's manufacturing facilities use natural gas as their source of methane. In addition to its facilities in Europe, Calysta's first manufacturing facility in the United States is due to open by 2019.[1] The new facility in the United States is expected to produce an estimated 20,000 metric tons per year when operational[21][23] and 200,000 metric tons per year when at full capacity.[23]

References
  1. Koh, Ann (2017-09-26). "Landfill Gas for Dinner? Scientists to Cook Food From Waste". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  2. Bullis, Kevin (2012-10-30). "Biofuels Companies Drop Biomass and Turn to Natural Gas". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  3. Lippman, Daniel (2014-01-29). "Can Plastic Be Made Environmentally Friendly?". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  4. Palmer, Maija (2017-02-01). "Methane-based animal feed is more than just hot air". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  5. EOS, april 2019, page 52
  6. "Gas guzzlers". The Economist. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  7. "Calysta Energy™ Targets Natural Gas as Advantaged Feedstock for Transportation Fuels and Chemicals - Bio-based News -". Bio-based News. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  8. Noel, Andrew (2012-10-22). "Ex-Codexis CEO Shaw Forms Gas-Based Biological Feedstock Company". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  9. Herndon, Andrew (2013-05-01). "Biofuel Pioneer Forsakes Renewables to Make Gas-Fed Fuels". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  10. Protti-Alvarez, Francinia (2013-06-18). "NatureWorks, Calysta Energy enter R&D to produce lactic acid via methane fermentation". Chemical Week. Archived from the original on 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  11. McCoy, Michael (2016-03-14). "NatureWorks advances methane-to-lactic acid". C&EN Global Enterprise. 94 (11): 15–16. doi:10.1021/cen-09411-buscon004.
  12. Helmer, Jodi (2016-03-17). "Methane-eating bacteria could reduce the impact of our big appetite for fish". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  13. Gunther, Marc (2015-03-11). "Can Aqua-Spark fund the future of aquaculture?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  14. Schatz, Robin D. (2015-05-26). "Innovation for the Fish Farm". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  15. Bridgen, Mike (2016-01-14). "Calysta, a US biotech company, is investing £30m in a fish feed centre". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  16. McNeal, Ian (2016-09-19). "Multi-million pound fish food factory which is creating scores of jobs opens on Teesside". Gazette Live. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  17. Hugill, Steven (2016-09-21). "Calysta has opened £30m Wilton site to make ingredient aimed at reducing salmon farming industry's dependence on fishmeal". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  18. Yap, Shiwen (2017-05-03). "Singapore: Temasek participates in Calysta $40m Series D led by Mitsui". Deal Street Asia. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  19. Bomgardner, Melody M. (2017-05-08). "Calysta raises money for fish food". Chemical & Engineering News. 95 (19): 10.
  20. Lantrip, Patrick (2016-11-30). "Cargill, Calysta To Build New Facility in Memphis". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  21. Risher, Wayne (2016-11-29). "Cargill, Calysta to open fish food factory in Memphis". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  22. Painter, Kristen Leigh (2017-01-14). "Cargill's quest for fish food grows, enriching canola in Montana and growing protein in tank". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  23. Lantrip, Patrick (2017-04-27). "Cargill, Calysta Break Ground on Presidents Island Facility". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  24. Risher, Wayne (2017-04-26). "NouriTech aims to curb world hunger, create Memphis jobs". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  25. Thayer, Ann M. (2013-04-22). "Start-ups To Mine Methane Troves". Chemical & Engineering News Archive. 91 (16): 20–21. doi:10.1021/cen-09116-bus1.
  26. Brunhuber, Kim (2016-01-04). "Methane-guzzling bacteria could feed fish, pets, even people". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  27. Lierop, Wal Van (2017-10-08). "Canada must prepare now for the post-carbon economy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
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