Protein factory of the future: Amino acid produced from CO2 with solar energy

German researchers have developed a new system that converts carbon dioxide into amino acids using solar energy. Technology could make animal feed production more sustainable in the future. See Full Size Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed a new system that produces amino acids from carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen and methanol by using solar energy.

These amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins, are of critical importance, especially for animal feed and cultured meat produced in laboratory environments. According to the researchers, the developed technology can significantly reduce dependence on agricultural protein sources such as soy in the future. Solar energy is first converted into methanol and then into amino acids. The system developed by the researchers brings together different technologies in a single production chain.

The process begins by converting sunlight into electricity through photovoltaic (PV) panels. The resulting electricity is used to produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of water. This hydrogen is then combined with the captured carbon dioxide to synthesize methanol.

Methanol serves only as an intermediate product here. Special enzymes, which constitute the most important part of the system, convert methanol into amino acids by passing it through a series of biochemical reactions. The type of amino acid produced varies depending on the enzyme combination used.

The research team showed that a total of seven different amino acids could be produced with this method. These include glycine, serine, L-alanine, L-aspartic acid, L-valine, L-glutamic acid and L-proline. All of these amino acids are among the basic building blocks used by living things for protein synthesis.

Today, most of the amino acids are obtained indirectly from agriculture. Plants create biomass using solar energy, and then these plants are used as animal feed or as a source of protein in different industrial processes. However, with this new method, an alternative source of protein has been created.

The researchers think this approach could enable more efficient use of existing agricultural land in the long term and significantly reduce the environmental impact of amino acid production. In fact, this work is not a technology developed entirely from scratch. The same research group managed to produce only L-alanine using green methanol in 2023.

With the new study, this system has transformed from producing a single amino acid into a modular platform where different amino acids can be produced. The researchers think that a much wider range of amino acids could be produced in the future by changing the enzymes used. This indicates that the developed method can be transformed into a general production platform where different biological building blocks can be produced, not just for a single product.

According to researchers, one of the most important areas of use of this technology will be the livestock sector. Especially dairy cows with high milk yield are fed with feed rich in amino acids to maintain their production. Today, millions of tons of amino acids are used for this every year.

However, the production of these amino acids consumes significant amounts of agricultural land, water and natural resources. Soy production, especially widely used in animal feed, has long been criticized for its environmental impacts due to deforestation and high land use. Researchers think that the method they developed could reduce dependence on soy-based protein sources in the future. Although the researchers have managed to successfully operate the entire production chain, the developed technology is still at laboratory scale.

Current production capacity has not reached a sufficient level for commercial use. The research team's next goal is to increase the production amount by increasing the efficiency of the enzymes that convert methanol into amino acids. Erkek-trenckot-siyah-o-4314074.