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Calysta
Company typePrivate
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
FounderJosh Silverman
Headquarters
Menlo Park, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Alan Shaw (CEO)
ProductsProtein for animal and fish feed
Websitecalysta.com

Calysta is a multinational biotechnology firm based in San Mateo, California. The company develops industrial processes that utilize microorganisms to convert methane into protein for seafood, livestock feed[1] and other food ingredients.[2][3] It operates a demonstration plant in Teesside, England,[4] that uses methanotroph bacteria to convert methane into single cell protein[5] currently approved for use in fish and livestock feed in the European Union.[4][6] The firm is a spinout of DNA 2.0, the largest US-based provider of synthetic genes for industrial and academic use.[7]

History

Calysta was founded in 2012 in Menlo Park, California[2][8] by Josh Silverman,[4] and is led by CEO Alan Shaw.[1][9]

By June 2013, the firm began working with NatureWorks to use methane fermentation to produce lactic acid.[10][11] However, its main technology is based on a similar method developed in the 1980s by Statoil,[12] an unrelated and state-owned energy company in Norway. In 2014, Calysta purchased and further developed the technology for producing animal feed ingredients.[6] Using the ten-million-dollar total funding from investors including Aqua-Spark,[13] Calysta began a study to determine the viability of a mass production facility.[14]

In January 2016, the firm began building its pilot facility in Teesside, England. The center was developed with a supplemental grant of £2.8 million ($3.7 million) from the UK Government.[15] In early 2016, the firm announced it had raised $30 million in funding led by Cargill, an American agribusiness corporation.[12]

The firm's Teesside facility opened in September 2016.[16] The facility is dedicated to the production of the company's chief product, "FeedKind protein."[17] The firm raised an additional $40 million in May 2017 from existing and new investors including Japan's Mitsui & Co. and Singapore's Temasek Holdings.[1][18][19] The firm recently completed its first commercial scale production facility in Chongqing, China with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes of product per year.[20]

Operations

Calysta's processes rely on methanotrophs (specifically Methylococcus capsulatus[6]) which naturally convert methane into methanol by the enzyme, methane monooxygenase.[21] Calysta is producing an alternative yet non-genetically modified protein for use in commercial feed.[6][22][23] Protein produced from methane is being offered as a substitute or supplement in the farmed fish industry which conventionally employs fishmeal and fish oil as its source of protein.[13]

Currently, the company's manufacturing facilities use natural gas as their source of methane. In addition to its facilities in Europe, the firm's first manufacturing facility in the United States is due to open by 2019.[1]It is expected to produce an estimated 20,000 metric tons per year when operational[24][25] and 200,000 metric tons per year when at full capacity.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Koh, Ann (2017-09-26). "Landfill Gas for Dinner? Scientists to Cook Food From Waste". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  2. ^ a b Bullis, Kevin (2012-10-30). "Biofuels Companies Drop Biomass and Turn to Natural Gas". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  3. ^ Lippman, Daniel (2014-01-29). "Can Plastic Be Made Environmentally Friendly?". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  4. ^ a b c Palmer, Maija (2017-02-01). "Methane-based animal feed is more than just hot air". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  5. ^ EOS, April 2019, page 52
  6. ^ a b c d "Gas guzzlers". The Economist. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  7. ^ "Calysta Energy™ Targets Natural Gas as Advantaged Feedstock for Transportation Fuels and Chemicals - Bio-based News -". Bio-based News. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  8. ^ Noel, Andrew (2012-10-22). "Ex-Codexis CEO Shaw Forms Gas-Based Biological Feedstock Company". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  9. ^ Herndon, Andrew (2013-05-01). "Biofuel Pioneer Forsakes Renewables to Make Gas-Fed Fuels". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  10. ^ Protti-Alvarez, Francinia (2013-06-18). "NatureWorks, Calysta Energy enter R&D to produce lactic acid via methane fermentation". Chemical Week. Archived from the original on 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  11. ^ McCoy, Michael (2016-03-14). "NatureWorks advances methane-to-lactic acid". C&EN Global Enterprise. 94 (11): 15–16. doi:10.1021/cen-09411-buscon004.
  12. ^ a b Helmer, Jodi (2016-03-17). "Methane-eating bacteria could reduce the impact of our big appetite for fish". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  13. ^ a b Gunther, Marc (2015-03-11). "Can Aqua-Spark fund the future of aquaculture?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  14. ^ Schatz, Robin D. (2015-05-26). "Innovation for the Fish Farm". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  15. ^ Bridgen, Mike (2016-01-14). "Calysta, a US biotech company, is investing £30m in a fish feed centre". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  16. ^ McNeal, Ian (2016-09-19). "Multi-million pound fish food factory which is creating scores of jobs opens on Teesside". Gazette Live. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  17. ^ Hugill, Steven (2016-09-21). "Calysta has opened £30m Wilton site to make ingredient aimed at reducing salmon farming industry's dependence on fishmeal". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  18. ^ Yap, Shiwen (2017-05-03). "Singapore: Temasek participates in Calysta $40m Series D led by Mitsui". Deal Street Asia. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  19. ^ Bomgardner, Melody M. (2017-05-08). "Calysta raises money for fish food". Chemical & Engineering News. 95 (19): 10.
  20. ^ "Calysseo's FeedKind plant opens in China, with demand for premium aquafeed soaring | SeafoodSource". www.seafoodsource.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  21. ^ Thayer, Ann M. (2013-04-22). "Start-ups To Mine Methane Troves". Chemical & Engineering News Archive. 91 (16): 20–21. doi:10.1021/cen-09116-bus1.
  22. ^ Painter, Kristen Leigh (2017-01-14). "Cargill's quest for fish food grows, enriching canola in Montana and growing protein in tank". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  23. ^ Lierop, Wal Van (2017-10-08). "Canada must prepare now for the post-carbon economy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  24. ^ Risher, Wayne (2016-11-29). "Cargill, Calysta to open fish food factory in Memphis". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  25. ^ a b Lantrip, Patrick (2017-04-27). "Cargill, Calysta Break Ground on Presidents Island Facility". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
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