The Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) policy are the right ways of moving towards a bio-based economy linked to a strong partnership between academia and industry. Photo: serb.gov.in

India’s new PPP initiative, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), established to promote research and development, and the recently announced BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) policy emphasise the need for academia-industry partnership; and the role of the bioeconomy in driving the economy while honouring India’s commitment to sustainable development and climate action. Specifically, the BioE3 policy notes the need to convert chemical-based industries to sustainable bio-based industrial models. It also provides an opportunity to revisit the impact of new technologies on existing industries such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs).

Reducing palm oil in soap

The soap industry globally, for example, is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity. The manufacturing of soap depends heavily on palm oil. About 90% of palm plantations are grown in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, where its lucrative production has led to replacing forested lands with palm oil fields. Although this deforestation has been well documented, replacing palm oil in soaps and other FMCG products has been difficult. For one, palm has relatively higher yields as compared with other vegetable oils, making it more lucrative for farmers and cheaper for consumers. Palm oil also accounts for about 40% of the global annual demand for vegetable oil.

However, new emerging technologies may provide avenues to replace or at least reduce palm oil consumption in soaps. Palm oil is the primary source of fatty acids that perform two functions in a soap bar —15-20% of the lower chain fatty acids contribute to the surfactant/cleansing function of the soap, while most of the longer chain fatty acids only provide structure to the bar. Synthetic biotechnologies may be able to create artificial fatty acid chains that can replace the functionalities of palm oil, particularly those providing structure to the bar. Alternately, the so-called ‘structuring portion of the Total Fatty Matter’, which provides no consumer benefit, could be replaced with other local plant or bio-based materials such as plant-based polysaccharides. Additionally, with the total amount of ‘hard soap’ reduced, other benefit agents like antimicrobial peptides or other biologically active molecules could be added to the soap bar to improve its germ-protection function or preferably molecules which boost the skin’s immunity and provide germ protection.

This will require strong support from government and civil society. It would mean the development of solutions across the soap value chain, be it bio-based or bio-synthetic materials that could replicate the brick-and-mortar structure of the soap bar or packaging innovations that can reduce/eliminate plastic use. The recent PPP initiative under ANRF, linked seamlessly with the BioE3 policy, could support such partnerships through funding and by recognising the need to reinvent legacy products in addition to introducing new ones.

Locally grown palm oil

Until bio-synthetic or bio-engineered products become a reality, every day-use products like soaps will depend on domestic and international sustainable palm oil plantations. The Government of India launched the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm in August 2021 with the aim of increasing the oil palm production area to 10 lakh ha. and boosting crude palm oil production to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26. It is important that such plantations not only adhere to the policy of ‘No Deforestation, No Peat’, but that they are also carefully selected so that they don’t disrupt the surrounding biodiversity. A comprehensive ecological research programme to understand the long-term impact of these monocultures in the context of India’s biodiversity is also a strong need, along with regenerative agriculture practices, working with smallholder farmers.

The purchase of locally grown sustainable palm oil and investments in innovation to replace imported palm oil come at a cost, which, when borne by the company, may have to be passed onto the consumer. In a competitive market, this can mean the loss of market share. Government support through funding for research or other fiscal incentives encourage such sustainable practices and help companies innovate in this space.

Finally, the move to reduce palm oil use in soaps will require regulatory support. Current toilet soap grades are decided based on the fatty material present in the soap. This creates a false equivalency in the government’s and consumer’s mind that the higher the fatty material in the soap, the better the product’s quality. Many publications disprove of this. Regulatory requirements for soap grades should move away from this old ‘vertical’ compositional standard based on a single material and embrace more horizontal and performance-based standards as those which exist in developed markets and incentivise newer technologies and methodologies linked to consumer benefit, product safety, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, mandatory labelling of products on a sustainability scale based on their procurement and production practices can also help consumers make informed decisions.

The ANRF and the BioE3 policy are the right ways of moving towards a bio-based economy linked to a strong partnership between academia and industry. Products of everyday use might be a great first place to start, to make a real impact in terms of being both sustainable and self-reliant

Shambhavi Naik, Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru. Views are personal; L.S. Shashidhara, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru. Views are personal

Days after the Centre unveiled its BioE3 policy to boost bio-technology-centric manufacturing in India, the Department of Biotechnology – as part of first steps – is contemplating setting up enzyme-manufacturing facilities to bolster ethanol production., according to scientists and officials with the Department of Biotechnology.

The first such plant may come up in Manesar, Haryana and will likely be a supplier to proposed 2G bio-ethanol plants in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Bhatinda (Punjab) and an existing plant in Panipat. Among other things, the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) policy cleared by the Union Cabinet last week aims to set up ‘bio-foundries’ that will produce biotechnology-developed feedstock and catalysts.

The NITI Ayog estimates that India will need about 13.5 billion litres of ethanol annually by 2025–26. Of this, about 10.16 billion litres will go towards meeting the fuel-blending mandate of E20. ‘2G’ or second generation bioethanol is ethanol that is produced from rice-straw as opposed to the conventional method of sourcing it from molasses (sugarcane).

In 2022, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. set up a first-of-its-kind 2G ethanol plant in Panipat that uses rice stubble – whose burning spikes pollution in north India – as a feedstock. The plant, theoretically capable of producing 1,00,000 litres of ethanol a day runs at 30% capacity and needs 1,50,000 – 2,00,000 tonnes of rice straw per year, which is generated at the end of the sowing period in September-October.

However a critical ingredient to convert stubble into ethanol are a cocktail of enzymes and an appropriate treatment process. As of today, these enzymes are imported and constitute a significant component of the cost of the 2G-ethanol production process, said Dr. Ramesh Sonthi, Director, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). “We have developed enzymes that are as good, if not better, than the ones currently used for the production of ethanol at Panipat. We have been able to show its efficacy in producing up to 15,000 litres of ethanol and are looking at scaling up,” Mr. Sonthi said.

Maharashtra-based Praj Industries, a leading industrial biotechnology company is the technology licensor (of enzymes from Danish Biotechnology company, Novozymes). That, alongside Praj’s “proprietary technology” (treatment) powers the ethanol refining plant at Panipat, according to a press release from 2022.

“We are now currently working with Praj and they have tested our enzyme and said it as good as the ones they use. They are going to work with us on techno-economic analysis as well as the building of plants,” Dr. Shams Yazdani, senior scientist at the ICGEB, whose research group has developed the enzymes, said. While still early days, a first step is to be able to produce at least 20,000 litres of ethanol at Panipat using the ICGEB-Praj processes.

The enyzmes in question are derived from tweaking a fungus that belongs to a broader family of fungii called Penicillium funoculosum.

However, it is only through several steps of genetic engineering that the fungus can be tweaked to produce the necessary enzymes in sufficient quantity that can then act as an efficient hydrolyser of organic refuse such as rice stubble.

EDITORIAL: ​Biotech enigma: On the BioE3 proposal and beyond

The fungus, which is found in soil and a part of the solid waste, in this case rice stubble, itself can be used to grow the fungi and secrete enzymes.

“It is a cell-free system with enzymes available now to digest the biomass. So eventually what you have after digestion is a free sugar, which can be fermented not only for ethanol but to make cosmetics, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs, or the base components of drugs),” said Yazdani.

He estimates that if India’s future ethanol needs – government policy currently mandates all petrol to be blended 20% with ethanol by 2025 – were to rely on locally developed enzymes it could mean a roughly 2/3rd reduction cost in procuring the enzymes.

OPINION: India’s ethanol conundrum

A report by the NITI Ayog on India’s ethanol blending programme estimates that a litre of ethanol requires 2.3 kg of rice, 2.6 kg of maize or 50 kg of sugarcane. Because these are key food crops, relying on them for fuel means using land for food for fuel. Secondly these crops are extremely water-guzzling. The recommendation thus is to rely on agriculture biomass, and further municipal solid waste, to serve as the feedstock for ethanol. Additionally, use agriculture residue as fuel sources, also translates to an alternate use of stubble that is otherwise burned by farmers to clear the land for cropping. This year Punjab alone is estimated to produce 20 million tonnes of rice stubble. A plant, even like the one at Panipat, can process at its maximum 2,00,000 tonnes.

Producing ethanol is one part of the larger BioE3 programme, which was approved by the Cabinet – though sans a budgetary outlay – last week. While the fossil fuel industry is the main source of a variety of consumer products at present and resulting in pollution and plastic pollution, BioE3 aims to leverage India’s capabilities and put it at the forefront of a global movement, already underway, away from fossil fuel and towards using biological organisms and biotechnology as the new sources of energy and consumer products, said Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology.