Photanol

Photanol has developed a technology to convert CO₂ and sunlight into valuable organic compounds. 

Every day humans turn thousands of tonnes of irreplaceable oil into chemicals and energy plus carbon dioxide. Photanol does it the other way round by turning carbon dioxide into green fuel and specialty chemicals using sunlight creating a cyclical, sustainable chemical economy. 3.5 billion years ago a primitive strand of bacteria called cyanobacteria started using energy from sunlight to grow using up carbon dioxide. This is how photosynthesis was invented. After all those years cyanobacteria are still around in almost every environment including the canals in Photanol's Amsterdam lab plants. 

Photanol's technology and patents are based on the genetic modification of cyanobacteria to produce a broad range of biochemicals. These bacteria are natural photosynthesizers, drawing energy from (abundant and free) sunlight and carbon from (abundant and problematic) CO2. The company is applying this technology in a number of markets, ranging from food ingredients to chemical bio-blocks and bio-fuels. Already, seventeen products can be produced in the lab by these cells.

A strategic choice made early on by Photanol was to aim for higher-value compounds and not focus on ethanol, which currently has a relatively low market price. Their first three products will be organic acids for the production of polymers, among other things. And they may add terpenes, which have an even higher value.

So far, work has been done on laboratory scale and in the optimized pilot plant in Bleiswijk. However, Photanol is cooperating closely with Omega Green, a company that grows algae for food and feed and has already built a hectare-size production facility in Eemshaven. Photanol is confident they can grow their cells in a large-scale facility without major problems. 

Cyanobacteria offer a simple, renewable pathway for chemical production, and has the potential to emerge as the sustainable production platform for next-generation clean chemicals. One of the chemicals they are looking at producing is lactic acid which could be converted to PLA. 

The company has received investments from ICOS capital and UvA Holding.