Climate change, pollution and depletion of reserves drive the search for alternatives to fossil-based resources. Micro-organisms capable of converting sustainable resources into valuable compounds (microbial cell factories, MCFs) can replace (petro)chemical products and processes, and are critical in the transition to a sustainable society. However, widespread industrial implementation of MCFs is hampered by inefficiency, instability, and complexity of current bioprocesses. Therefore INDUSTRIOPHILE develops a systematic approach to discover and improve traits in MCFs, to make them tolerant to industrial conditionals and capable of efficient production of a broad range of products. The INDUSTROPHILE approach is validated through four industrial showcases.

The research proposed in BioAqua aims at breaking new ground in the area of catalysis by enabling water-driven biocatalytic redox reactions. Oxidoreductases are a class of enzymes with a very high potential for preparative organic synthesis, which is why they are increasingly used also on industrial scale. The current state-of-the-art, however, utilises valuable high-energy cosubstrates (such as glucose and alcohols) to promote oxidoreductases. Thereby valuable (and edible) building blocks are wasted as sacrificial electron donors which will have significant ethical (food for chemistry), economic and environmental consequences once redox biocatalysis is applied at scale. I envision utilizing water as sacrificial electron donor. Hence, a simple and abundant cosubstrate will be used instead of the valuable cosubstrates mentioned above. This will be a completely new approach in (bio)catalysis. However, activating water for this purpose water is extremely difficult due to its kinetic and thermodynamic inertness. To solve this problem, I propose using visible light as external energy source and advanced chemical catalysts to facilitate water oxidation. The electrons liberated in this process will be made available (for the first time) to promote oxidoreductases-catalysed transformations. BioAqua represents an entirely new paradigm in catalysis as I will bridge the gap between photocatalysis and biocatalysis enabling cleaner and more efficient reaction schemes.

After 20 years of research, bio-based plastics have failed to displace fossil plastics by achieving no more than 1% market share. The choice for expensive feedstocks (edible sugars) and comprehensive processing (via high-purity monomers and well-controlled polymerization) has made them uncompetitive and unsustainable for large-volume commodity applications. We aim at filling this gap by using cheap and abundant feedstocks (e.g. lignocellulose waste streams) and developing simple chemical processes that circumvent deep deconstruction of the feedstock. We have recently demonstrated this concept by producing a fully-recyclable thermoplastic composite by biomass liquefaction and further reinforcement with natural fibers. Building on this lead, we will broaden feedstocks pool and processing options (modification and functionalization) to produce low-cost circular composites and coatings (for wood and cardboard) for commodity applications. This approach integrates the concepts of carbon-neutrality and full circularity by design, by selecting a feedstock that has a negative carbon footprint (i.e. is sequestering CO2) and by selecting a process that can easily recycle spent product. These thermoplastic composites and coatings could transform the petrochemical industry by providing competitive circular materials for packaging and construction, which accounted for ~ 60% of the plastics demand in EU in 2018. This ambition will be tackled by interdisciplinary collaboration and continuous knowledge exchange between the consortium partners, which are active along the whole value chain of the product (feedstock suppliers, technology developers, end-users): University of Twente, Delft University of Technology, Avans Hogeschool, Shell, UPM, Xylotrade B.V., NPSP, Bodewes Materials Solutions and Staatsbosbeheer.

Advances in biotechnology are rapidly expanding possibilities for engineering life, such as through gene editing. These novel applications beget empirical and ethical questions in both the practice of innovation and usage. Modifying organisms comes with uncertainties concerning issues of safety and security, sharing benefits, and naturalness. Biotechnology is changing how we engineer life to our benefit, leading to serious implications for conceptions of “the good life” for human flourishing. Cultivating virtues for innovation in practice (VIPs) can help us make responsible choices for the good life. This research will take up the task of formulating such a framework. The main research question is: how can empirical ethics provide a virtue ethics account of moral responsibility for uncertainties in biotechnology while building on existing normative frameworks of innovators and users to become part of practices, and what is this account? This project will study biotechnology practices during innovation and usage through a philosophical lens, notably through the work of Alasdair MacIntyre. The focus emerges from an understanding that practices are where choices get made, a community’s norms and values take shape, and moral agents deal with problems and/or uncertainties. Since virtues are practicable and ethicists of technology want those practicing and using biotechnology innovations to act responsibly when faced with uncertainties, a virtue ethics account of responsibility is necessary and helpful. Combining empirical ethnographic research methods with conceptual analyses in the ethics of technology, the project will uncover existing ways of dealing with problems or uncertainties, develop a conceptual framework based on virtue ethics, and yield practical recommendations for policy, research, industry, and education.