AN INTRODUCTION TO THE APPLICATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL (WHITE) BIOTECHNOLOGY

EUROPABIO's BIOTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION KIT

1. Introduction:
Modern biotechnology is a powerful and versatile tool which can compete with chemical and
physical means of reducing energy and material consumption and minimising the generation of
waste and emissions.
There is general agreement that the use of biotechnology in industry does not simply remove pollutants
but also will prevent pollution at the source.
Efforts to achieve clean industrial products and processes will also bring great benefits to industry over
the next ten or twenty years.
Industrial biotechnology, using microorganisms and biological catalysts (enzymes) to produce goods and
services, has come of age.
Biotechnology and CO2 emissions
The soya bean: an important renewable resource
The soya bean has long been used to develop products ranging from foiod and diesel fuels to polymers,
fabric softeners, solvents, adhesives, linoleum, rubber substitutes, printing inks, and plastics. Recent
advances in recombinant genetic biotechnology have made it possible to alter the lipid composition of
soya beans to increase the variety of biohydrocarbons available for industrial applications. Amides, esters
and acetates of biohydrocarbons are currently used as plasticisers, blocking/slip agents and mold-release
agents for synthetic polymers. Biohydrocarbons linked to amines, alcohols, phosphates and sulfur groups
are used as fabric softeners, surfactants, emulsifiers, corrosion inhibitors, anti-static agents, hair
conditioners, ink carriers, biodegradable solvents, cosmetic bases and perfumes. In combination with
aluminium and magnesium, the soya bean is used to produce greases and marine lubricating materials.
2. Biotechnology in industrial sectors
Various parts of the industry are experimenting with the new tools offered by biotechnology. Of particular
interest is the possibility of using biobased resources as feedstocks in the larger volume sectors. While
biobased manufacturing will not necessarily always be cleaner, it is certain that wastes from biobased
manufacturing will be more compatible with conventional wastewater treatment systems.
Pharmaceuticals
Today, many pharmaceuticals are semi-synthetic molecules, in that part of their structure is synthesised
by a living organism and later modified by chemical processing. Thanks to biocatalysis optimised
fermentation, and replacement of organic solvents by water, modern biotechnology contributes to cleaner
production of such semi-synthetic antibiotics.
An enzymatic process for producing an antibiotic
Thermostabilised enzymes and the development of a new bioreactor process by Kaneka Corporation are
used to produce 2,000 metric tons a year of amoxicillin, an antibiotic. This all-enzymatic process has
displaced an older one in which part of the synthesis was carried out chemically but created problems,
including coloring of the product, formation of by-products, and low energy efficiency.
Textiles and leather
The textiles industry is continuously seeking new sources of innovation, one of which is biotechnology. In
1996 the global enzyme market for textiles amounted to $ 178 million. Moreover, textile and apparel
companies are spending more time and money on environmentally relevant issues. Regulatory pressure
is expected to intensify for both textiles and leather as less polluting technologies become available and it
becomes possible to generate less waste.
Enzymes have been used in textile processing since the early part of this century to remove starch-based
sizing, but only in the past decade has serious attention been given to using enzymes for a wide range of
textile applications.
Enzymes are expected to have an even greater impact on effluent quality as more fibre preparation, pre-
treatment and value-added finishing processes convert to biotreatment. In addition, enzymes are very
effective catalysts even under mild conditions and do not require the high energy input often associated
with chemical processes.
Food
In the food sector, biotechnology has long played an accepted role in traditional processes, such as
cheese making. Both modern and traditional biotechnology can be an important supportive tool for the
food industry and give considerable added value to food products. When evaluating the use of
biotechnology "from the farm to the fork" it is necessary to balance the environmental impact of
commercial agriculture with that of alternative production routes, such as growth of microorganisms in
fermentors or from fossil fuel feed stocks. The environmental benefits of producing food additives by
fermentation or enzymatic routes instead of traditional organic synthesis are similar to those for other
specialty chemicals. In the case of fermentation-derived preservatives, the effect is even more favorable
when the fermentation broth is incorporated in the finished product. In the most desirable situation,
bacteriocin-producing cultures are used in fermented foods (such as sauerkraut) where they consume
carbohydrates, naturally preserve the finished product and contribute nutritive value of their own. A
biotechnology application with very great potential environmental benefit would convert waste streams
from one process into raw materials for another, or upgrade underutilised raw materials into a more
valuable form.
Ideas abound, including alternative uses for the grape pomace left over from wine-making, corn cobs as a
substrate for citric acid production, and cranberry waste as a substrate for fungal bioinoculants. Use of
the large quantities of whey produced during cheese making also hold out great promise. One successful
approach has been the production of lactose-fermenting yeasts as flavoring ingredients.
Sugars from starches
Starch processing involves the conversion of maize or another grain into dextrose and other syrups by a
hydrolysis reaction. This was formerly done using acid at high temperature and pressure, but dextrose
yields were limited to about 80 %, the process was hazardous and expensive and produced large
quantities of salt as a by-product. The initial change to enzymatic hydrolysis in the 1960s increased
dextrose yields and eliminated the drawbacks of the acid process. In the 1970s, development of
immobilised glucose isomerase enzymes enabled the production of high fructose corn syrup. In the
1980s, thermostable alpha-amylases helped increase yields, and in the 1990s, recombinant thermostable
amylases have helped reduce costs.
Animal feed
Since the common protein sources used in animal feeds (e.g. soya, fishmeal, wheat and maize ) are
deficient in methionine, lysine, threonine and tryptophan, these essential amino acids are added as
supplements to monogastric diets, e.g. for poultry and pigs. Whereas methionine is produced by chemical
synthesis (300,000 tons in 1996) lysine, threonine and tryptophan are produced by industrial
fermentation, using mutants of Corynebacterium glutamicum and recombinant strains of E.coli.
Feed enzymes are designed to degrade components of raw materials that limit digestibility and/or lead to
higher levels of excretion of manure, nitrogen and phosphorus. Endoxylanases and phytases are the
best-known feed-enzyme products. Endoxylanase enzymes hydrolyse phytic acid and release inorganic
phosphate, thereby avoiding the need to add inorganic phosphates to the diet and reducing phosphorus
excretion. If phytase is added to feeds for pigs to liberate phosphate in the feed, phosphate release in
manure is reduced by 30 %. In a country like the Netherlands, this would reduce the phosphate released
into the environment by 20,000 tons a year.
The marginal price increase in the feed cost to farmers (about 2 %) would be compensated for by a
reduced levy on discharge of phosphate.
Pulp and Paper
The pulp and paper industry is very capital-intensive with small profit-margins. It must meet increasing
demand for pulp and paper and, at the same time, comply with increasingly stringent environmental
regulations. Driven by market and environmental demands for less chlorinated products and by-products,
it is the fastest growing market for industrial enzymes. In the United States, this market is projected to
grow by 15 % a year for the next ten years.
In paper-making, various processes are used to separate the cellulose fibres from the lignin in wood to
form a slurry (pulp) that is then processed into paper and board. Existing chemical pulping operations
create a great deal of pollution. Biopulping, which involves the treatment of lignocellulosic materials with
lignin-degrading fungi, has been shown to result in energy savings and strength improvements. Enzymes
are now also being incorporated into the pulping process, where they offer a number of advantages.
The structure and chemical chemical composition of pulp fibres are of paramount importance for paper
strength and other properties. Enzymes can be used to reduce fibre coarseness, increase paper density
and smoothness, and improve appearance. Most pulp is produced using the kraft process. Kraft pulps
have a characteristic brown colour, which must be removed by bleaching before manufacturing paper for
writing or other products for which appearance is important. Chlorination is traditionally used, but pulp
manufacturers are turning to other techniques because of consumer resistance and environmental
regulations. According to studies conducted in Finaland, hemicellulases (mainly xylanases) improve
bleaching. They are now being used commercially in Scandinavia, Canada, the United States, and Chile.
Treating kraft pulps with xylanases significantly reduces chemical consumption with almost no loss in pulp
yiels or quality. A new enzyme that is better suited to the temperatures and pH found in pulp processing
has also been developed in Israel and successfully tested in a large-scale trial.
Using bacteria to remove by-products
Adding polymers to paper stops fibres from becoming waterlogged and gives the paper wet strength.
However, the polymer production process creates contaminants which reduce its effectiveness. Carbury
Herne Limited and Hercules Inc. have developed a bioprocess for removing these by-products.
Two strains of bacteria are used to digest the by-products which are then washed out of the polymer
before it is applied to the paper. This treatment is considered not only more environmentally acceptable,
but it is also less expensive than developing a new product or a new manufacturing process to do the
same job.
The process has now been adopted at production scale at two plants that make packaging paper for food
liquids. As the bioreactors were built into existing production lines, costly redesign of the production
process was avoided.
Energy
Biotechnology is having a major effect on the economics and the environmental impact of the energy
sector. Biotechnology can produce cleaner coal and petroleum, chiefly by removing sulfur and thus
reducing the environmental contaminants released during combustion. Production of low-sulfur fuels will
extend fossil fuel reserves and reduce levels of air contaminants. Biotechnology also has the potential for
producing equivalents to petroleum distillates, such as biodiesel. Ethanol, methane, and molecular
hydrogen are even cleaner fuels, all of which would, if produced biologically, greatly lower levels of
greenhouse gases.
The bioconversion of synthesis gas to liquid fuels such as methanol is also being investigated. Synthesis
gas is a mixture of CO, H2 and CO2 made by the partial oxidation of any carbon-based material. Feeds
for the production of synthesis gas include agricultural, municipal, and paper wastes and biomass grown
specifically for this purpose. The range of feeds for synthesis gas make it a particularly versatile source of
fuels. With potentially lower processing costs and greater carbon yield, fuels derived from synthesis gas
are an attractive alternative to fuels produced by fermenting biomass-derived sugars.
Bioethanol
Bioethanol is a liquid transportation fuel. Currently, most bioethanol is made from sugar cane, maize and
other starch crops. In the United States, close to a billion gallons of ethanol are produced annually, and in
Brazil production may be four times that. However, a tax credit is needed to achieve a competitive market
price. To be economically competitive with fossil fuels, the technology for producing ethanol from
biomass-derived sugars will require using high-yield low-cost crops and more efficient methods of
converting lignocellulosic waste material into fermentable sugars. These two areas are the focus of
current research. In studies sponsored by the Department of Energy, US scientists are investigating a
simultaneous saccharification and fermentation procedure for converting cellulose to ethanol. The
process combines cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation steps in one vessel to produce high yields. The
objective is to develop, by the year 2000, technologies for producing ethanol from biomass at a cost that
will be competitive, without tax incentives, with the cost of gasoline.
Metals and minerals
There are two biotechnological processes used in the mining industry for the recovery of metals and
minerals. To date, the cleanliness of bioprocesses compared to conventional metal recovery methods has
not yet been established; the use of life cycle assessment would be helpful.
Biotech for mining and metals recovery includes the use of microorganisms for bioleaching and minerals
bio-oxidation. These processes are employed worldwide by the mining industry to extract base and
precious metals. They use bacteria, principally Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans
and certain thermophilic (high temperature) bacteria to leach metals such as copper and gold from a
sulfide mineral. Copper recovery companies that use bioleaching report that it has advantages over
conventional roasters, smelters, and pressure autoclaves:
- no noxious gases are produced;
- construction time is shorter;
- environmental permits are acquired faster and environmental reporting is less onerous;
- no toxic effluents are produced;
- environmentally stable iron arsenate residue is produced;
- metal recovery is excellent;
- operation is simple and safe, as processing is at ambient temperature a nd pressure;
- smaller projects can be developed economically.
Biotechnology in the galvanising industry
Landskrona Galvanoverk in Sweden has designed a biotechnological process for metal finishing to
replace the traditional alkaline degreasing process, which uses 5 % sodium hydroxide at pH 11-14. The
enzymatic degreasing process has replaced the alkaline process, which creates a large volume of
wastewater containing heavy metals. The new process, which is also used in two other companies,
produces half as much sludge and uses a tenth the quantity of water. In addition, thanks to cost savings,
the payback time is expected to be five years.
Modern biotechnology offers new approaches to cleaner industrial products and processes. At its core is
the principle of working in harmony, rather than conflict, with the natural world. Biotechnological solutions
can supplant technologies that pollute the biosphere and/or deplete finite resources, but industry, the
research community, government, and the public need to work together to help biotechnology fulfill its
potential for industrial sustainability.
Biotechnology in the galvanising industry
Landskrona Galvanoverk in Sweden has designed a biotechnological process for metal finishing to
replace the traditional alkaline degreasing process, which uses 5 % sodium hydroxide at pH 11-14. The
enzymatic degreasing process has replaced the alkaline process, which creates a large volume of
wastewater containing heavy metals. The new process, which is also used in two other companies,
produces half as much sludge and uses a tenth the quantity of water. In addition, thanks to cost savings,
the payback time is expected to be five years.
Modern biotechnology offers new approaches to cleaner industrial products and processes. At its core is the
principle of working in harmony, rather than conflict, with the natural world. Biotechnological solutions can
supplant technologies that pollute the biosphere and/or deplete finite resources, but industry, the research
community, government, and the public need to work together to help biotechnology fulfill its potential for
industrial sustainability.