The process relies on microbes that feed on methane. These methane-munching methanotrophs essentially “burn” methane (CH4) to get energy, producing CO2 and water as waste products. Some of this energy is then used to combine other methane molecules to make more-complex carbon molecules – food, in other words. The bacteria are grown in vats, fed methane, and are then dried and turned into pellets.
Eden considers a variety of environmental sustainability criteria and concludes that it offers significant advantages over current fish feed ingredients. It was shown to use 77-98% less water than alternative ingredients, including soy and wheat proteins. It also requires almost no agricultural land to produce, freeing that land for other food crops. In fact, one commercial scale Eden protein plant, if used to replace soy products for fish feed, would free up enough land to feed as many as 250,000 people. The land area represented is equal to an area the size of Chicago, Birmingham or Seoul.
Eden has concentrated on making the life of the bacteria as comfortable as possible. The internal geometry of the reactor in which they live is designed to keep them in constant contact with enough methane to grow, enough air to respire and enough ammonia to produce the nitrogen which, along with the carbon and hydrogen in the methane, is the fundamental building block of the amino acids from which the proteins are made.
The reactors contain a mini ecosystem that includes other species of bacteria, known as heterotrophs, which mop up the metabolic products that would otherwise slow down methylococcus`s growth. These products are the result of methylococcus consuming things other than methane (propane, ethane and so on).
This makes the process totally gas agnostic. Eden protein is an innovative, competitively priced fish feed ingredient produced from naturally occurring microbes found in soils worldwide. Using a natural fermentation process similar to making yeast, these microbes produce a nutritious, high protein feed that is a sustainable alternative to high protein feed ingredients such as fishmeal. Eden protein is a natural, traceable and safe non-animal source of protein produced using the world’s only commercially validated gas fermentation process. Eden protein is non-GMO and approved for sale and use in fish and livestock feeds as well as pet food in the EU. It has been extensively tested on multiple fish species, including Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, as well as in swine and poultry. The product is nutrient dense, highly stable with very little fiber content, no mercury, and a high fat content that can reduce the need for supplemental fats. It will be shipped and supplied dry as powder or pellets. Eden protein offers aquaculture feed producers valuable features not available from many feed ingredients. These include high nutrient density, product uniformity, security of supply, sustainable product labeling, and potential health benefits to farmed fish. Production of Eden protein is independent of climatic variability and fishery regulations, and it is produced year-round. Eden’s technology also enables the production of advantaged feeds, in which feed is supplemented with other key nutrients, vitamins, or amino acids. The amino acid profile can be modified to more closely match what is needed by an individual species or company. Adding these nutrients via Eden protein can reduce overall cost and may help maintain fish, livestock, and pet health and well-being.