Alternative Proteins Magazine ISSUE FOCUS October 2025 21 form low-value resources into high-quality protein. This creates multiple benefits: • Waste reduction: By using byproducts like methane, agricultural residues, or industrial CO₂, alternative proteins prevent pollution while generating value. • Resource efficiency: Many microbial and fermentation-based proteins require little to no land and far less water than conventional protein sources (FAO, 2021). • Climate impact: By decoupling protein production from deforestation, overfishing, and intensive farming, alternative proteins reduce greenhouse gas emissions and preserve biodiversity (IPCC, 2021). • Resilient growth: New protein sources diversify supply chains, reducing reliance on fragile global commodity markets (World Economic Forum, 2019). In this way, alternative proteins support a resilient, circular bioeconomy where secure, diversified protein supplies meet growing demand with lower environmental impact. Several companies are already putting these principles into practice, demonstrating how alternative proteins can transform waste into high-value resources. FROM METHANE TO PROTEIN TO FEED A leader in this field is Unibio, a Danish biotechnology company with a pioneering method for converting methane into protein. The company’s flagship product, Uniprotein®, is a single-cell protein produced through a proprietary Vertical Loop fermentation process, in which naturally occurring microbes are cultivated using methane as a carbon and energy source. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, released from agriculture, landfills, and industrial processes, often wasted or flared, with a warming potential more than 25 times that of carbon dioxide over a century (IPCC, 2021). By capturing methane and turning it into protein for feed, Unibio provides a double benefit: Reducing emissions and producing a high-quality, safe, and scalable protein ingredient for animal feed. This innovation is particularly important in the context of animal farming, which consumes vast quantities of protein in the form of feed, particularly soybean meal and fishmeal. These conventional feed ingredients are resource-intensive, contribute to deforestation, and create volatility in global feed markets. By converting industrial byproducts and side streams into alternative proteins, feed producers can reduce reliance on imported soy and wildcaught fish, while simultaneously improving feed security for farmers (FAO, 2020). Looking at the bigger picture, this shows how biotechnology can turn waste into value and build more resilient food systems by applying circular economy principles. Methane-to-protein approaches provide a clear example of how innovation, sustainability, and efficient resource utilization can come together to strengthen food security. KALUNDBORG SYMBIOSIS: A LIVING EXAMPLE OF CIRCULARITY Unibio’s approach to protein production is further strengthened by its participation in Kalundborg Symbiosis, an industrial cluster located in the Uniprotein® is a single-cell protein produced by feeding methane to a culture of methanotrophic bacteria along with water, oxygen, ammonia, and simple minerals using a patented process Source: Unibio
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