String Bio, a Bengalaru, India-based scale-up, converts methane, a greenhouse gas, into valuable raw materials to make high-performance products, including protein for humans, helping to solve two major global issues.
Methane, which accounts for at least a quarter of total harmful emissions, helps to form ground-level ozone, a dangerous air pollutant that is responsible for approximately one million deaths and the loss of up to 110 million tons of crops each year, according to a U.N. study. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, accelerated reductions in methane emissions must come by 2030 to have any chance of meeting the 1.5°C global temperature target—or even the 2°C target.
Meanwhile, the world is expected to face an animal-based protein crisis by 2050 due to unsustainable demand from growing populations worldwide. Increased demand for animal-based protein is expected to have a negative environmental impact, generating greenhouse gas emissions, requiring more water and more land.
Experts say addressing this perfect storm will necessitate more sustainable production of existing sources of protein as well as alternative sources for direct human consumption.
String Bio, which in June was named a 2024 World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, is doing just that by using its patented fermentation platform to convert methane that would otherwise pollute the environment to deliver proteins and protein-based ingredients as a clean and traceable replacement for plant and animal sources. The ultimate aim is to redefine manufacturing, by making sustainability inherent in the way human and animal feed are manufactured, says Dr. Ezhil Subbian, who co-founded the company with her husband, Vinod Kumar, in 2013.
“We work at the forefront of biology, engineering and chemistry, leveraging the tremendous advances that have happened in each of these areas over the last decade,” says Subbian, who has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. “By using the energy present in greenhouse gasses as the core of our solution we aim to make the manufacturing and commercialization of carbon neutral, or often carbon negative products, the norm.”
String’s commercial products also include ‘bio-stimulants’ for crops such as rice that can increase yield and offset greenhouse gas emissions at the point of use, enhancing sustainability in two ways.
Methane’s Advantage Over Soy And Fish Meal In Animal Feed
Some 1.1 billion tons of animal feed is produced annually to take care of the nutritional needs of both livestock and pets. This puts an enormous demand on the naturally available resources, explains Subbain. The animal feed industry uses more than 75% of soy and more than 65 % of the total fish harvested globally to maintain its output. With increased demand for quality food for humans, the industry is looking towards more sustainable sources of nutrition that can bring about a balance.
String’s proprietary fermentation process allows for the conversion of methane into protein rich ingredients with robust amino acid and mineral composition that the India scale-up says is optimally developed to fulfill the macronutrient requirement of animals while also providing health benefits like better gain and gut health.
“The big advantage we bring is scale,” says Subbian. “If I want to manufacture 10,000 tons of protein, I can do it in very large vats that have a small footprint of two to three acres. If that same protein comes from soy, it takes 4,000 to 5,000 acres of land. Soy is only 40% protein. String’s product contains 70% protein. The only other product that comes close to that level of protein is fish meal, but it is full of heavy metals and contaminants and there is a limited supply, “ says Subbain “Fermented protein, such as ours, are the only ones that are high quality and that can scale.”
String Bio is currently processing contracts for between one ton and five tons of animal feed production. The start-up, which has raised a total of $30 million, to date, is in the process of building bigger facilities that will help it raise its production capacity.
“Provided we can get to scale, our products can be price competitive with fish meal,” says Subbian. “The bottleneck is very few of us are setting up facilities at scale, so for now, we are coming to the market at a slighter high price.”
Turning Carbon Into Protein Shakes, Biscuits And Nuggets
Fermentation will be as important for human food supply in the 21st century as agriculture was in previous centuries, says Subbian. Although the concept of fermented ingredients itself is several centuries old, the uniqueness of String Bio’s approach is in the scale and efficiency, she says. Fermentation and biology can usher in alternative ways of manufacturing critical macro ingredients for the global food system to enable efficient use of land and water while delivering ingredients for cleaner and healthier living, she says. “Through our products, we strive to build resilient food systems and support the perceptible shift in the market space towards these choices.”
String Bio is already able to produce protein shakes, biscuits and nuggets from carbon. It is still going through regulatory approvals and product development and testing. The aim is to become an ingredient provider to big food companies, she says. “Our vision is global,” she says. “Based on the product it is wherever the value proposition is highest. India is very interesting for human protein as there is a protein deficiency.”
String Bio is not the only young company attempting to turn carbon into protein. California-based NovoNutrients, for example, has been working on a way to use microbes to turn carbon dioxide into protein that can be used in food for humans and feed for animals. The U.S. company claims its fermentation-enabled protein product is 73% protein, with all the essential amino acids and little fat or fiber. The U.S. company is at a much earlier stage of development, having only recently raised $3 million investment from Woodside Energy for development of a pilot-scale plant.
Young companies are also working on other ways of developing protein. Finland’s Solar Foods, make protein from air, electricity and fermentation, while the U.S.’s Air Protein ,is developing an alternative to animal protein using air fermentation.
String Bio’s says its strength is its platform approach which enables it to manufacture from diverse sources of methane, biogas, and natural gas, and also have a broader product portfolio which includes both specialty and commodity products.
Stimulating Crops
String Bio also makes bio-stimulants for the agriculture sector that aim to increase crop tolerance to abiotic stress, facilitate the use, assimilation and translocation of nutrients, increase the efficiency of plant metabolism and improve soil fertility and microbiota through the use of microorganisms.
Its products are being used to improve cereals, exotic crops, fruit crops, floriculture and oil plants, among others. “In the last four to five years we have validated our products on around 40 crops across 15 states in India” she says.
In the case of rice, its biostimulant product has multiple value propositions. Rice fields which constitute nearly 16% of the world’s calorie intake, contribute to climate change by emitting two potent greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, accounting for nearly 10% of global methane emission. String Bio’s CleanRise bio-stimulant reduces methane emissions up to 50% and nitrous oxide emissions up to 40% while increasing yield up to 39%, says Subbian. “We have proven that this technology has potential to significantly reduce the emission footprint of the rice sector while securing farmer livelihood.” she says.
Stimulating The Market
The challenge, for now, is to bring these solutions to market rapidly, at scale and, at the right price points. “Sustainability benefits have zero value in the market today; nobody is willing pay for it,” she says. Given the climate crisis and increased demand for protein, the world can’t afford to wait. “The need for sustainability is urgent,” she says. “Bringing this to scale quickly truly matters for the global population’s food security and climate goals.”
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