Five Scottish industrial biotechs delivering a more sustainable future

By Mark Bustard, CEO at the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre

Mark Bustard, CEO at IBioIC

With COP26 set to take place in Glasgow this November, more than perhaps any other year 2021 should be the time we look to, and celebrate, how Scotland is supporting the fight against climate change.

Every sector has its role to play in supporting Scotland’s aim to reach net zero carbon by 2045, from oil and gas to manufacturing – and plans have been set out by specific industries and even individual businesses on how they will make their contribution. Yet, less discussed is the cross-cutting technologies that transcend sectors and can re-invent how entire industries work in a much more sustainable way.

One of these is industrial biotechnology – a set of processes that use natural materials to create chemicals and other substances used in a wide variety of products, rather than relying on compounds derived from unsustainable sources like petrochemicals. It is an area of growing importance, as more and more companies commit to reducing carbon from their own practices and their supply chains.

Although not a sector in itself, the number of companies that fall under the banner of industrial biotechnology is growing in Scotland. In 2012, there were just 24 businesses in the field producing associated annual revenues of £189 million; but, by the end of 2019 that had reached 130 companies with associated turnover of £747 million – well ahead of expectations to reach the £900 million combined revenue target set out in the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology.

Many of these businesses are making a significant contribution to how we build back greener and better from the Covid-19 crisis – not only in Scotland, but across the UK and further afield. Here are some exciting companies with the IBioIC network for the industrial biotechnology community:

1.     Ten Bio – Testing in animals has long been seen as an unfortunate necessity in the pharmaceuticals and skin research sectors. But, Dundee-based Ten Bio is proving that it does not have to be the case. The company has developed a patented human skin culture system that closely mimics intact living skin on the body. Last year the company won £65,000 at the Scottish Edge awards to scale-up its offering, which IBioIC supported. Using real human skin that would otherwise be discarded as clinical waste following surgical procedures, the company’s ready-to-use product, TenSkin™, offers researchers the ability to generate more reliable and realistic data prior to testing in humans, reducing the need to test in animals.

2.     Oceanium – Oceanium, an Oban-based biotech start-up, was formed to solve two of the biggest challenges facing our society today, meeting the demand for all natural, sustainable food sources and address the plastic crisis. To provide solutions to these issues, Oceanium has developed a ‘green and clean’ biorefinery technology to process sustainably-farmed seaweed into high-demand products, including plant-based food and nutrition ingredients (protein and fibre) and home compostable bio-packaging. By creating demand for farmed seaweed, Oceanium will catalyse the nascent sustainable seaweed farming industry and pioneer the development of a new, environmentally friendly aquaculture sector. Sustainable seaweed farms absorb carbon and excess nitrogen, encourage responsible coastal management, and create ‘blue’ jobs across the value chain. 

IndiNature’s Scott Simpson, CEO and Sam Baumber, COO next to their industrial hemp harvest last year

3.     IndiNature – Decarbonising the built environment has been highlighted as one of the biggest challenges in reaching sustainability targets. In fact, estimates from UKGBC (UK Green Building Council) suggest that the built environment accounts for 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint. Edinburgh’s IndiNature is combatting that by creating building insulation from biotech materials and traditional local crops. The 100% natural products come from renewable industrial crops grown in the UK. Unlike other insulations, IndiTherm actually has a net capture of carbon – reducing an average UK home’s carbon footprint by 4.4 tonnes CO2e.

Dickon Ponsett, Director of Corporate Affairs at Argent Energy

4.     Argent Energy – Another major area of focus in the fight against climate change is decarbonising the transport system. One of the foremost companies doing that from a fuel perspective is Argent Energy, which creates biodiesel from waste fats and oils. In addition to its biofuels production, Argent has an innovation programme that has recently been involved in a proof-of-concept project with the University of Edinburgh, highlighting a range of high-value chemicals that can be produced from waste fats and oils through a combination enzymatic and catalytic routes. This project has made way for a focussed PhD studentship, which will look in more detail at these novel transformations into products with the potential to replace existing fossil-fuel products.

5.     ScotBio – Provenance and carbon footprint of food sources are global hot topics and important considerations in any diet. ScotBio is making significant strides in the food and ingredients markets with the use of spirulina, a fast-growing, sustainable algae that can be consumed by humans and animals. The company aims to use the full algal biomass, reducing waste whilst producing a natural, healthy, and traceable natural blue colourant and a plant-based protein that can boost the nutritional content of meat-alternative products. ScotBio’s pioneering vessel-based system uses less water than traditional pond systems and allows for localised production.