Hem / Projekt / CoMush: Skogsrester för kombinerad produktion av ätlig svamp och biobränsle (BioEk 2.0)

CoMush: Skogsrester för kombinerad produktion av ätlig svamp och biobränsle (BioEk 2.0)

Område: Kemikalier & Energi
Kategori: Innovationsprojekt

Projektet pågick mellan september 2017 och februari 2021.

Projektet CoMush var en del av innovationsprojektet BioEkonomi 2.0 – Bättre valorisering av restströmmar. Det övergripande målet med delprojektet var att utveckla en integrerad industrikedja där restprodukter från skogen används som substrat för svampodling och där förbrukat odlingssubstrat (spent mushroom substrate, SMS) återvinns som råvara för att producera biobränsle genom sockerplattformen. Det förväntades att detta delprojekt skulle bana väg för att bygga upp en ny och ekonomiskt konkurrenskraftig industriell värdekedja både på nationell och internationell marknad.

Fokus i delprojektet låg på substratsammansättning, pastöriseringsparametrar, enzymatisk hydrolys och en ekonomisk och miljöbaserad livscykelanalys för hela kedjan. Experiment i laboratorie- och bänkskala samt industriella tester utfördes.

Deltagare

Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU), Umeå universitet, ProcessIT Innovations, Biosteam AB, Valutec AB, SCA Obbola AB, SCA Munksund AB, Svampkungen AB, Swedfungi AB, Umeå Energi AB, Hällnäs Handelsträdgård AB och Cathaya Co Sweden AB.

Budget

Projektets budget var 8 980 000 SEK.

Förväntade resultat

Delprojektet förväntades att prova projektparternas innovationsidéer om att svampodlingen fungerar som ett förbehandlingssteg som underlättar utvinningen av socker ur substratet. Genom denna studie skulle förutsättningarna för att etablera värdekedjan och teknikerna att valideras och utvärderas. Projektet skulle resultera i såväl tekniska lösningar (substratrecept, processintegration, parametrar etc.) som ekonomisk och miljömässig utvärdering. Därutöver skulle projektet att utföra analyser av politiska villkor för att möjliggöra beslutsfattande och industriell demonstration.


Resterande presentation av projektet kommer att vara på engelska, då delar av projektets forskarteam är engelskspråkiga.

Projektets bidrag till en biobaserad samhällsekonomi

One of the core issues of bioeconomy strategy is to develop climate smart holistic solutions and to increase resource and energy efficiency in society. This project has proved that a process-integrated edible fungi (food) and energy production using local woody residues can be a potential and promising approach.

The results from this project indicate that the new system we developed will make the edible fungus production more cost effective, energy efficient and environmentally friendly than ever before. It can save up to 60% energy, >30% labour costs and ~25% cultivation time compared with conventional production of mushrooms such as shiitake. This suggests that it is more realistic to novelise/revive Swedish mushroom industry that has suffered from high labour and energy costs associated with low-tech processes. Edible mushrooms are rich in protein and can be an alternative to meat products. Today, the annual consumption of meat products in Sweden is approximately 55 kg meat per capita, which is 30 kg more than human dietary/healthy requirements (Svenska Jordbruksverket 2013), while meat production and related transportation have a large climate impact (FAO 2013). Mushrooms can grow on forest residues that are plentiful but largely underused in Sweden and the growing process does not need extra land, fertilizer and pesticides.

Advantages of growing edible fungi can be extended to more efficient production of cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuels. Our results show that the cultivation of shiitake can function as an effective process of delignification resulting in > 70% degradation of lignin. This suggests that the cultivation of edible mushroom can be an alternative to existing physical and chemical pretreatment that requires high inputs of energy and chemicals that costs about 30% of all expenses from wood resource to ethanol product. Without further pretreatment and addition of chemicals, the spent mushroom substrates (SMS) after a harvest of mushroom fruit bodies are a good feedstock for a direct enzymatic saccharification and subsequent fermentation of hydrolysate sugars to bioethanol fuel. In addition, the solid leftovers after the hydrolysis, which is about 30% of initial substrate, can be used as combustible solid biofuels for heating. Thus, a circular biobased economic model is demonstrated.

Based on our results, one ton dry mass (DM) of birch-based substrates may product 600 kg fresh shiitake fruit bodies (90% w/w moisture) and recover 600 – 700 kg DM of SMS that may be converted to about 130 litre bioethanol fuel and 300 kg solid biofuels for direct combustion.

Konkreta resultat och leverabler

Major concrete results are summarised as follows:

  • Two Swedish patents have been granted. One is about new pasteurisation method (SE1651575A1) and the other is about the mushroom growing device and process for automatic cultivation of mushroom (SE542577C2/SE1850883-A1). Compared with conventional methods, the new way of pasteurisation can save up to 60% energy and considerable costs for mushroom production; the new growing device and process can potentially save considerable labour costs.
  • The parameters such as temperature and duration of pasteurisation have been verified for at least three edible mushrooms, and even regarding differences in substrate particle size, density and block dimension. These data will be delivered as instructions for industrial uses.
  • Substrate formulations (“recipes”) composed of 3 different wood species are developed. Underused forest thinning residues from birch, alder and aspen are major ingredients resource for production of protein-rich edible mushroom and biofuels. Major results have been included in academic publications but can be also used for industries.
  • Academical publications on the cultivation and utilisation of edible mushrooms such as Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus pulmonarius, ostreatus, and Auricularia auricular-judae.

Major academic publications:

  • Chen F, Xiong SJ, Gandla ML, Stagge S, Martín C. (2022) Spent mushroom substrates for ethanol production – effect of chemical and structural factors on enzymatic saccharification and ethanolic fermentation of Lentinula edodes-pretreated hardwood. Bioesource Technology. Doi: /10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126381.
  • Chen F, Martín C, Lestander TA, Grimm A, Xiong SJ (2022) Shiitake cultivation as biological preprocessing of lignocellulosic feedstocks – substrate changes in crystallinity, Syringyl/guaiacyl lignin and degradation-derived by products. Bioesource Technology. Doi: /10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126256.
  • Chen F, Grimm A, Eilertsen L, Martín C, Arshadi M, Xiong SJ (2021) Integrated production of edible mushroom (Auricularia auricular-judae), fermentable sugar and solid biofuel. Renewable Energy, 170:172-180. Doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.01.124.
  • Chen F, Grimm A, Eilertsen L, Martín C, Arshadi M, Xiong SJ (2021) Integrated production of edible mushroom (Auricularia auricular-judae), fermentable sugar and solid biofuel. Renewable Energy. Doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.01.124.
  • Chen F, Martin C, Finell M, Xiong SJ (2020). Enabling efficient bioconversion of birch biomass by Lentinula edodes: regulatory roles of nitrogen and bark additions on mushroom production and cellulose saccharification. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. Doi: 10.1007/s13399-020-00794-y.
  • Chen F, Xiong SJ, Sundelin J, Martin C, Hultberg M (2020). Potential for combined production of food and biofuel: cultivation of Pleurotus pulmonarius on soft- and hardwood sawdusts Journal of Cleaner Production, 266, 122011. Doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122011.
  • Wei M, Xiong SJ, Chen F, Geladi P, Eilertsen L, Myronycheva O, Lestander TA, Thyrel M (2020). Energy smart hot-air pasteurisation as effective as energy intense autoclaving for fungal preprocessing of lignocellulose feedstock for bioethanol fuel production. Renewable Energy, 155:237-247. Doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.03.154.
  • Xiong SJ, Martín C, Eilertsen L, Wei MG, Myronycheva O, Larsson S, Lestander T, Atterhem L, Jönsson LJ. 2019. Energy-efficient substrate pasteurisation for combined production of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) and bioethanol. Bioresource Technology 274:65- 72.Doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.11.071.

Resultatens effekter och potential

One of the most important impact is: an industrial development project (SvampHäll) is initiated by several partners of this project. SvampHäll is co-financed by EIP-agri program through Jordbruksverket and has the aim at developing automation/robot processes, based on our patents, for a production of edible fungi and mushroom substrates for domestic and international markets. Several SME in Västerbotten are preparing to form a new company working on a new industrial chain.

The global production of cultivated mushrooms is about 34 million tons in 2015, and market demand is increasing (Royse et al. 2017). Europe has about 24% of the world production, second after Asia. Annual production of shiitake is about 7,5 million tons, which generates about 7,5 – 12.5 million tons of SMS DM that can be converted to 2-3 million m3 of ethanol fuels (Wei et al. 2020). These figures show a great potential of our development.

Visioning on future development towards bioeconomy, SLU Forestry Faculty has recently financed building a new laboratory (Svamplabb) to facilitate future research on “mushroom + biofuel”.

Kempestiftelserna, a forest industrial based funding in northern Sweden, has decided to finance a two-year postdoctoral researcher in SLU-Umeå for further development on combined production of mushroom and biofuel.

Samhälleliga förutsättningar

The rural areas in Sweden has under a long time experienced deindustrialisation and depopulation. To break this trend, we need new and innovative solutions that make rural areas more attractive to the industry. Today’s farmers are to a large extent dependent on income from the forest, but due to long rotation period in forests the farmers must endure long periods of hard work that do not generate any income. Between harvests (clearing and thinning) and during harvests, large amounts of biomass are left in the forests due to low profitability. Our new concept of “edible mushroom + biofuel” will provide a considerable market value and a clear bio-economic potential for this biomass. The edible mushrooms grow well on forest residues, require small land areas, and no fertilizers or pesticides are needed. There are also great opportunities to establish the actual in-house and vertical cultivation in rural areas, as well in the north as in the inland as most fungi requires neither sun nor high temperatures during the cultivation process.

Extern synlighet

Nästa steg

Industrial demonstration is at the top of the list. For doing it, industrial and mechanical processes and devices shall be materialised.

Digitalisation of the processing shall be one of the central technologies to be developed, which is crucial for level up Swedish competitiveness in the world.

Further research and development are suggested upgrading mushrooms to edible protein and bio-medicinal/healthy-improving products, as they are important parts of bioeconomy.

Cultivation of edible fungi on softwood residues is especially interesting in Sweden where 83% of forests are composed of scot pine and Norway spruce, but it is a global challenge today. Fundamental research to understand the poor susceptibility of conifer biomass to edible white-rot fungi are needed, so as to develop methods to tackle the problems.

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