Cemvita, a climate tech company producing sustainable oil from waste, announced a major milestone in its production capabilities. Showcasing the groundbreaking science behind its microbial waste-to-oil process, Cemvita has unlocked new efficient technologies that allow for the production of up to 500 barrels per day of sustainable oil from its first commercial plant—a goal originally projected for 2029.
In an industry where reaching scale is known to be limited and expensive, Cemvita’s technological advances in lipid productivity have enabled the company to quadruple its planned output. This achievement is due in part to adaptive evolutionary enhancements in its leading-edge microbes. Additionally, reactor optimization has significantly increased oil extraction efficiency by at least 330%.
“What’s so amazing about synthetic biology is that humans are just scratching the surface of what’s possible,” said Moji Karimi, CEO of Cemvita. “Our focus on the first principles has allowed us to design and create new biotech more cheaply and faster than ever before. Our combination of low-CAPEX design, innovations in bioprocess engineering, and increased productivity, enabled by synthetic biology, sets us apart. Today’s threefold achievement in efficiently producing sustainable oil from crude glycerin comes just two months after our breakthrough in developing a solvent-free extraction bioprocess. All this work has taken place in our Houston pilot plant.”
Today’s announcement is expected to have significant positive implications for the business, including increased production capacity, improved operational efficiency, and a strengthened competitive position in the sustainable oil market. Cemvita leads the biotechnology industry by leveraging the power of nature in combination with synthetic biology to decarbonize heavy industries and deliver cleaner products without negative impact and without sacrificing the benefits already in place from our current carbon-based manufacturing economy.
Cemvita is continuing to gain momentum through its partnerships and world-class talent acquisition. In collaboration with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, Cemvita is working to efficiently produce sustainable fats, chemicals, and fuel feedstocks using its cutting-edge microbial suite and bioprocess design. This process decreases oil production costs and broadens the company’s market portfolio by investigating the presence of high-value compounds within bioprocesses.
Recent hire Nadia Skorupa Parachin, Vice President of Industrial Biotechnology, joined Cemvita in July to accelerate the company’s synthetic biology advancements, driving even greater efficiency. Phil Garcia, recently promoted to Vice President of Commercialization, joined Cemvita last year, leading the company’s commercialization efforts. Cemvita anticipates the announcement of further technological and production advancements in the coming months, promising a future of enhanced productivity and sustainability.
