Research projects
CRONUS - Capture and Reuse Of biogenic gases for Negative-emission - sustainable biofUelS
Project acronym and name: CRONUS - Capture and Reuse Of biogenic gases for Negative-emission - sustainable biofUelS
Project ID: 101084405
Funding organization: co-funded by the European Union
Call: HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-03
Project website: https://cronushorizon.eu/
Grant recipient: Dimitris Malamis, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
Partners institutions: NTUA, ELGO DIMITRA, DTU, Biotech Pro ApS, UNIPD, CIRAD, CATIF, AlgEn, NEVIS Imperial College London, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Madisi Ltd., UT SEMIDE
UNIPD project members: Dr. Laura Treu (associate investigator); Prof. Stefano Campanaro (associate investigator); Dr. Guido Zampieri (researcher); Dr. Alessandro Satta (PostDoc); Dr. Davide Sanguineti (PhD student)
Short summary of project topic: CRONUS aims to accelerate on the path to sustainable bioenergy and play an important and constructive role in achieving the UN SDGs by incorporating in the biofuels value chain carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CUS) techniques promoting the decarbonisation of the EU economy in accordance to European Green Deal goals. The spectrum of considered CUS technologies includes enzymatic capture of CO2, autotrophic algae cultivation, biological CO2 hydrogenation, syngas biomethanation, in-situ biomethanation, and biogenic carbon storage by biochar production. The proposed technologies are being validated in lab-scale (TRL4) and will be upscaled to 5 functional prototypes that will operate in relevant environments of biofuels production plants (TRL5).
CO2toCH4 - Demonstration of a mobile unit for hybrid energy storage based on CO2 capture and renewable energy sources
Project acronym and name: CO2toCH4 - Demonstration of a mobile unit for hybrid energy storage based on CO2 capture and renewable energy sources
Project ID: LIFE20 CCM/GR/001642
Funding organization: Co-funded by the European Union
Call: LIFE20
Project website: https://co2toch4.eu/
Grant recipient: Panagiotis G Kougias, ELGO Dimitra
Members: ELGO Dimitra; PPC renewables; NEVIS; NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS – NTUA; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - AUTH
UNIPD project members: Dr. Laura Treu (Associate Investigator); Prof. Stefano Campanaro (Associate Investigator); Dr. Gabriele Ghiotto (PhD student)
Short summary of project topic: LIFE CO2toCH4 aims at developing and demonstrating an innovative, integrated, and sustainable industrial process for simultaneous energy storage and CO2 capture and utilization (CCU). The ultimate goal of the project is to construct, test and operate (TRL8) a smart mobile unit for hybrid energy storage able to be installed in remote energy systems that commonly have low capacity (e.g., remote areas or islands that are not interconnected with the central energy grid). The technology relies on the fact that the RES (Renewable Energy Sources) will be used for water electrolysis, and subsequently the produced H2 will be biologically converted into methane (as a non-fossil biofuel) together with CO2 from exhaust gasses.
CooCE - Harnessing potential of biological CO2 capture for Circular Economy
Project acronym and name: CooCE - Harnessing potential of biological CO2 capture for Circular Economy
Project ID: 327331
Funding organization: ERA-Net cofund Accelerating CCS Technologies (ACT)
Call: ACT3
Project website: https://cooce.eu/
Grant recipient: Prof. Tomas Morosinotto (University of Padova)
UNIPD project members: Laura Treu (Associate Investigator); Stefano Campanaro (Associate Investigator); Maria Silvia Morlino (PhD student)
Short summary of project topic: The CooCE project aims to accelerate the use of CCUS and revolutionize CO2 capture and utilization by closing carbon loops in a circular economy approach. CooCE targets to demonstrate novel biotechnological platforms for conversion of CO2 (either from biogas or exhaust gasses) into upgraded biofuels (i.e., biomethane) and platform chemicals, namely biosuccinic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates, that form the building blocks of various biopolymers and bioproducts.
The University of Padova is involved in the bioconversion of CO2 to polyhydroxyalkanoates. Our group focuses on this bioprocess using the facultative chemolithotroph Cupriavidus necator DSM 545. In particular, the carbon sources under exploration are biogas, which contains significant amounts of CO2 that can be captured, and digestate, rich in volatile fatty acids (VFA) as an alternative heterotrophic source. Bioinformatic analyses of the organism’s genome, including comparative genomics, gene annotation, and metabolic modelling, are performed to select the best conditions for growth, CO2 uptake, and PHA synthesis. Alongside, batch cultures are set up to test substrates, culturing conditions, and small-scale bioprocesses.
Multi-omic exploration for characterizing oenologically relevant yeast strains
Project acronym and name: Multi-omic exploration for characterizing oenologically relevant yeast strains
Project ID: -
Funding organization: Italiana Biotecnologie S.r.l.; MIUR
Call: -
Project website: -
Grant recipient: Dr. Laura Treu
UNIPD project members: Dr. Laura Treu (Associate Investigator); Prof. Stefano Campanaro; (Associate Investigator); Davide Santinello (PhD student)
Short summary of project topic: Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) is extensively employed in the vinification industry to perform fermentation in a controlled manner. Different characteristics of the substrate matter and specific product requirements can be accommodated by the use of strains with suitable traits, which are currently investigated mostly through biochemical and empirical analyses. This project aims to apply next-generation and third-generation sequencing technologies to obtain insights into genomics and transcriptomics of oenological S. cerevisiae strains, correlating gene content, mutations and gene expression with specific metabolic capabilities and biotechnological applications. Ultimately, techniques perfected in this project and the results obtained will be instrumental to perform efficient screening of strains of interest, identifying their applicability in the oenological industry.
PROACTIVE - Future-proof bioactive peptides from food by-products: an eco-sustainable bioprocessing for tailored multifunctional foods
Project acronym and name: PROACTIVE - Future-proof bioactive peptides from food by-products: an eco-sustainable bioprocessing for tailored multifunctional foods
Project ID: 2020CNRB84
Funding organization: MIUR
Call: PRIN: PROGETTI DI RICERCA DI RILEVANTE INTERESSE NAZIONALE – Bando 2020 Prot. 2020CNRB84
Project website: -
Grant recipient: Raffaella Di Cagno (Libera Università di Bolzano)
Members: University of Padova (Department of Biology); University of Bologna; University of ROMA “La Sapienza”; University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
UNIPD project members: Stefano Campanaro (Associate Investigator); Edoardo Bizzotto (PhD)
Short summary of project topic: The main aim of PROACTIVE is the exploitation of five food by-products categories (derived from oil, cereal, legume, fruit, and vegetable) to recover bioactive peptides (BPs) for the fortification of new healthy foods intended for a wide population. The production of BPs will be modulated and enhanced by combining different biotechnologies. Highly innovative in silico proteome analyses to select and predict the yield of BPs from by-products proteins will be adopted as the preliminary strategy. The health-promoting potential of BPs-enriched foods will be assessed on human cell lines and human gut microbiome.
BioCO2-TRAPPING - development and optimization of a biological process for CO2 capture and its conversion into bioplastics in a context of circular economy
Project acronym and name: BioCO2-TRAPPING - development and optimization of a biological process for CO2 capture and its conversion into bioplastics in a context of circular economy
Project ID: -
Funding organization: Fondazione Cariverona
Call: -
Project website: -
Grant recipient: Prof. Stefano Campanaro
UNIPD project members: Prof. Stefano Campanaro (Associated Investigator), Dr. Tatiana Spatola Rossi (PostDoc)
Short summary of project topic: The reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere is one of the main global challenges to be tackled by humanity. The BioCO2-TRAPPING project has the aim of optimizing a Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) technology, based on the use of the bacterium Cupriavidus necator, which is able to grow autotrophically using CO2 and convert it into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a polymer which is promising as a base for bioplastic materials. In particular, the project studies the bioconversion of CO2-rich waste gas from wine fermentation. The main aim of the work includes optimizing the growth of Cupriavidus necator on CO2 and increasing the yield of PHB production applying diverse nutritional stresses, as well as finding sustainable extraction techniques of the biopolymer (in collaboration with DAFNAE, UniPD). Other lines of research include genetically engineering the microorganism to either improve its carbon assimilation capacity or PHB yields.
MICRO-BIOfuels - Development and characterization of a microbial inoculum for use in the valorization of hard-to-degrade by-products through the production of biohydrogen and biogas.
(Sviluppo e caratterizzazione di un inoculo microbico da impiegare nella valorizzazione di sottoprodotti difficilmente degradabili tramite produzione di bioidrogeno e biogas)
Project acronym and name: MICRO-BIOfuels - Development and characterization of a microbial inoculum for use in the valorization of hard-to-degrade by-products through the production of biohydrogen and biogas
Project ID: -
Funding organization: University of Padova, MarcoPolo Engineering
Call: Uni-Impresa
Project website: -
Grant recipient: Prof. Stefano Campanaro
UNIPD project members: Stefano Campanaro (coordinator); Maria Cristina Lavagnolo (associated investigator); Laura Treu (associated investigator); Maria Chiara Valerin (research assistant)
Short summary of project topic: The MICRO-BIOfuels project aims to characterize microbial species present in an inoculum developed by the company MarcoPolo using next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. This will enable the precise identification of species potentially relevant for the production of biohydrogen and biogas. Subsequent analyses will be conducted to assess the inoculum's potential for generating these energy carriers under various conditions and with different substrates. Lastly, the primary goal is to adapt the microbial consortium to extreme conditions, thereby expanding its use in biogas production from challenging substrates.
FSE - Development of a biologically sourced food additive rich in polyphosphates: towards an eco-sustainable alternative to synthetic production processes
(Sviluppo di un additivo alimentare di origine biologica ricco in polifosfati: verso un’alternativa ecosostenibile ai processi di produzione sintetica)
Short summary:
Project acronym and name: Development of a biologically sourced food additive rich in polyphosphates: towards an eco-sustainable alternative to synthetic production processes (Sviluppo di un additivo alimentare di origine biologica ricco in polifosfati: verso un’alternativa ecosostenibile ai processi di produzione sintetica)
Project ID: -
Funding organization: Co-funded by the European Union
Call: PR VENETO FSE+ 2021-2027 (European Social Found)
Project website: -
Grant recipient: Raffaele Lopreiato (Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova)
UNIPD project members: Stefano Campanaro (Associated Investigator); Junior Lemos (PostDoc); Dr. Marco Roverso; Prof.ssa Sara Bogialli (Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova)
Short summary of project topic: The main purpose of this research project is to use new strains of the yeast S. cerevisiae to develop a biological additive rich in polyphosphates for use in the food industry. The goal is to generate a type of product that is currently absent but desirable in the commercial sphere. Additionally, protocols for large-scale production of this product will be optimized.