Category: Innovation Infrastructure | Published on 24/10/2022

How Deep Branch is Recycling Carbon and Reducing Emissions from Animal Products

Groundbreaking Innovations for the protein transition from international companies in the greater Rotterdam-The Hague area

The greater Rotterdam-The Hague area has played a key role in global agrifood developments throughout history. Modern threats such as climate change and diseases of affluence are transforming consumer preferences and pushing horticulture developments in new directions. There is a widespread sense of urgency that demands fast paced innovation.

Alternative protein companies like Deep Branch, who was named one of European Innovation Council’s (EIC) 50 most promising European Deep tech start-ups, have moved to the greater Rotterdam-The Hague region in order to grow their contribution to creating a cleaner, greener, and healthier world.

Deep Branch is a UK founded company who produces “feed ingredients for a more sustainable food system,” as explained by CEO and Founder Peter Rowe.

Founded in 2018, Deep Branch was started by three colleagues who did their PhDs together in the field of gas fermentation, using carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas as the raw materials. The company has since settled in the Netherlands in order to scale up their technology and run operations. Now with a team of around thirty employees, Deep Branch has grown tenfold in a three year period. Unlike most companies taking part in the protein transition, Deep Branch aims to create a platform technology that does not require arable land or fossil fuels.

Biofuels, biomaterials, and other bio based products usually require some level of arable land as raw materials need to be grown and harvested. Food and feed production will continue to put pressure on land use and require deforestation, even with more sustainable alternatives. Most fermentation processes require sugar, which is grown and used as a source of carbon and energy. In Deep Branch’s process and solution, carbon dioxide is the carbon source and hydrogen is the energy source.

We don’t need sugar, which means we don’t need arable land, but we can still produce all the same things that you’d normally make from fermentation, for example, protein.”

– Peter Rowe, CEO and Founder of Deep Branch

Replacement for conventional animal feed proteins

The conversion of CO₂ to protein results in Deep Branch’s end product, Proton™. Proton is a protein rich powder that acts as a replacement for conventional animal feed proteins such as soybean concentrate, fish meal, or corn gluten. Having a protein made from carbon dioxide means the product is both cleantech and a sustainable food source. Proton started out at a very low technology readiness level (TRL) and Deep Branch has managed to move it to a higher TRL in a very short period of time. They have taken part in multiple life cycle assessment (LCA) studies to assess their carbon footprint and have done a case study with Drax Group in the UK who is planning to produce carbon negative energy. Depending on how Deep Branch sources their CO₂, for example from Drax Group, they are able to save 60 to 90 percent on CO₂ equivalents.

Being situated in the greater Rotterdam-The Hague area, home to advanced CO₂ pipelines such as OCAP because of the concentration of advanced greenhouse cultivation in the world, will hopefully allow Deep Branch to make further inroads towards producing a leading sustainable protein. Deep Branch has a small test unit situated at Duijvestijn Tomaten in Pijnacker, where they intend to run small scale fermentations and carry out assessments on the CO2 in relation to their technology “Lining up the value chain that goes all the way from supply of CO₂ and hydrogen, to not just the sort of uptake of our protein with the animal feed industry, but even further down the value chain,” as mentioned by Peter. This project has been supported by Gemeente Rotterdam and InnovationQuarter.

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Growth outlook in the Netherlands

The greater Rotterdam-The Hague region with its mix of assets, expertise, and capacity allows for direct access to talent for growing companies working on the protein transition. Deep Branch is a complex technology that requires strong R&D competencies and people who can drive the core technology forward. Their engineering team is already robust and they have recently appointed a new CFO/COO who is able to provide organisational support. With the support of a great board and their growing team, Deep Branch have raised around 20 million euros over the last three to four years, including a 2.5 million euro investment from EIC that is used to build a pilot facility in the Netherlands. In the long run, Deep Branch expects to have two thirds of their staff located within the Netherlands.

Protein transition community

Deep Branch’s headquarters in the Netherlands are situated in Planet B.io, located in the Biotech Campus Delft. This location gives access to large biotech companies as well a cluster of smaller organisations that are all working towards the protein transition. Peter and Deep Branch have access to “a lot of shared knowledge within that community that’s really useful to be able to tap into.” Peter sees it as an interesting region and this is strengthened by the presence of DSM, one of their investors, a founding partner of Planet B.io, and a market leader in fermentation technologies.

With TU Delft nearby, a world renowned university for its biotechnical capabilities, and the region as one of the world’s largest hubs for agricultural commodities through the largest port of Europe, Rotterdam, Peter sees it as a “nexus of technology development and business within biotech.”

Improving the carbon footprint of food in the greater Rotterdam-The Hague

The protein transition is moving forward by leaps and bounds and Deep Branch is a unique player in this growing field.

While many companies are asking end consumers to switch their diets, Deep Branch’s technology allows consumers to “still eat the same foods without consciously even realising that they’re contributing to a better environment,” as Peter shared with us.

Just by switching out one ingredient in animal feed, Deep Branch is able to improve the carbon footprint of food such as salmon fillets by around 25% because the carbon footprint of the final food product is primarily influenced by the feed and within the feed, the primary impact is from the protein. Their market launch facility, a demonstration scale facility, is set to come online within the next three to four years, and from there they will be well positioned to start on a full scale commercial production facility. International companies like Deep Branch are moving to the greater Rotterdam-The Hague area to make these plans a reality and to contribute to a more sustainable society.

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