Calgary startup Cvictus turns to local academic researchers to bring game-changing innovation to market
A Calgary-based clean energy and biotech startup is poised to transform the way the world's livestock is fed by providing a low-cost, low-carbon, sustainable alternative to fish or soybean meal and they're doing it by tapping into an abundant Canadian resource: coal.
Cvictus which recently received a US$1.7-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to scale its technology is on a mission to resurrect a proven, decades-old industrial fermentation process that converts methanol into a high protein material used in animal feed. First commercialized in Britain in the 1980s, the technology though highly successful was abandoned shortly after due to skyrocketing methanol prices.
Now, Cvictus is revitalizing the pioneering method by leveraging its proprietary system for extracting beneficial gases to produce feedstocks, such as methanol, from coal deep beneath the earth's surface. To successfully do so, the company is tapping into cutting-edge expertise at University of Alberta's Biorefining Conversions and Fermentation Laboratory through a program coordinated by Mitacs, a leading Canadian innovation organization that helps boost homegrown innovation.
"We have giant dreams and expectations for where this technology will go, but as a startup, we can't feasibly employ the resources required to scale," said Katrina Stewart, Cvictus Director, Biotechnology and Carbon Reduction. "Academic researchers provide the innovation, expertise and drive we need to help move the needle forward on this exciting technology."
"Cvictus is a powerful example of how Canadian innovation fueled by research talent from our own universities can lead to smarter, more sustainable agricultural solutions," explained Dr. Stephen Lucas, CEO of Mitacs. "We're proud to help accelerate made-in-Canada solutions that directly benefit Canadians and strengthen our economy."
The work of Mitacs-supported researchers is helping Cvictus advance two separate, yet integrated projects. On the clean energy side, they're contributing to commercialization of the company's large-scale hydrogen recovery platform at its cutting-edge facility near Red Deer, where hydrogen initially is mined' from deep within the coal seam using patented technology that successfully sequesters carbon at the same time.
On the biotech side, student researchers are instrumental in helping to resurrect, improve and modernize methanol fermentation to support animal feed, with the potential of making a significant positive impact on the environment, since methanol fermentation requires a much smaller footprint, both physically and environmentally, compared to soybean meal and fish meal production, both of which negatively affect natural ecosystems.
"When we looked at different ways to utilize coal, and bring it to market, methanol was easiest to produce after hydrogen," said Stewart, explaining that the carbon-hydrogen ratio of the gas being recovered from coal using the Cvictus platform is "perfect for making methanol" and therefore presents a sustainable source for industrial fermentation.
To date, working in the University of Alberta lab under the supervision of professor David Bressler and in consultation with experts who worked on the original technology, student researchers have successfully conducted methanol fermentation at bench scale. Similar to how sugar is fermented to make yogurt in the food industry, they harvest the bacteria grown on methanol to produce single cell protein, which is then dried to produce a powder ready for processing into livestock feed.
Local students helping to advance research
Thanks to new innovations brought forth in the lab, students were able to double the productivity compared to 40 years ago. Cvictus is now applying the Gates Foundation funding to move the process to larger equipment located in the university's Agri-Food Discovery Place, where researchers will be working under the supervision of professor Ruurd Zijlstra on live feed trials in animals.
Mitacs-supported researcher Domenic Marano, a University of Alberta Master's student in bioresources technology and one of a handful of student researchers currently contributing to the fermentation project, is exploring how to recycle the waste stream so that the liquid left over from the drying process gets re-used in a closed loop system.
"The product coming out of the fermenter looks like toothpaste before it's dried and turned into the single cell protein powder," explained Marano. "Back in the '80s, there was a process for recycling that spent liquid which could be as much as 2.8 million tonnes of water per year back into the fermenter. Our goal is to find a similar recycling solution for the new, modernized process."
The opportunity to work directly with an industrial partner which is at the forefront of an emerging technology is incredible, added Marano. "Not only does it allow me to move through a simulated work experience with constant check-ins and meetings with industry, but I also get to watch the project come to fruition and be a direct part of that," he said.
With animal feed trials expected to begin later this year in broiler hens and pigs, the next step is regulatory approval, Stewart said. Once commercialized, the innovative product has the potential to supply most of world's animal feed market using coal as a sustainable resource.
"Technically, we could use any methanol source as feed stock for our process and it would still be beneficial to the agricultural industry," said Stewart. "But the real gains come when we pair our ultra-low-cost, low-carbon upstream technology with the fermentation. We truly aim to create carbon negative living."
"This is exactly the kind of real-world impact we see when Canadian talent is put to work on pressing challenges," adds Dr. Lucas. "Mitacs is playing an increasingly important role in helping companies turn research into results connecting private-sector needs with academic expertise to drive made-in Canada solutions that strengthen productivity, improve services, and build long-term resilience."
