In Estonia, ÄIO and Fibenol have partnered to develop a reliable alternative to traditionally produced fats and vegetable oils.
The partnership will leverage Fibenol’s process, which converts wood residues into lignin and two types of sugars, and ÄIO’s technology, which converts sugars into oils and fatty acids for functional food, feed, and cosmetics ingredients.
Traditionally, C6 sugars, like glucose, have been consumed by most microbes, while hemicellulose-derived C5 sugars, such as xylose, posed challenges for efficient utilization. With the integration of ÄIO’s technology, Fibenol can now efficiently convert its C5 sugars into high-value nutrient-rich foods.
These converted sugars also offer promising alternative constituents for the oleochemical industry. ÄIO researchers have estimated that adopting biotech processes to obtain new and alternative fats and oils could mitigate one hundred million tons of CO2 emissions, assuming ÄIO’s technology replaces approximately 30% of current global palm oil usage.