BASF and Acies Bio to develop platform to produce fatty alcohols from methanol

In Germany, BASF and Acies Bio, one of Europe’s leading biotechnology companies, have entered into a transformative partnership to further develop a platform for fermentation technology from methanol for the production of fatty alcohols. Fatty alcohols are essential building blocks for several ingredients in the home and personal care markets, in particular surfactants. Acies Bio’s biotechnological expertise complements BASF’s drive for innovative solutions and contributes to shaping a more sustainable future.

Acies Bio has developed the “OneCarbonBio”, a fully flexible synthetic biology platform designed to efficiently convert renewable methanol, derived from captured CO2 emissions, into a variety of chemical raw materials. Under the terms of the partnership, BASF’s Care Chemicals division and Acies Bio will use the specialized microbes and scale up the fermentation process to produce fatty acids and derivatives serving to manufacture various chemical compounds. BASF will contribute its expertise in developing processes, providing integrated value chain solutions and accessing global markets.

Acies Bio and BASF aim to combine their strengths in a co-development effort and to build on their combined research and development expertise. For BASF, the expected benefits of the project include increased scale and flexibility, leading to a diversification of the renewable feedstock portfolio and contributing to the resilience of Care Chemicals’ global supply chain.