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BioZEment 2.0 (completed)

BioZEment 2.0 is part of the Centre for Digital Life Norway. More information about the project can be found on the DLN webpages.

About the project

The production of concrete accounts for more than 5% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and new, disruptive technology in the field is needed to make a large-scale impact. Among the alternative avenues currently pursued is the use of naturally occurring mineral-microbe interactions in the production of construction materials. Integrated efforts across multiple disciplines, including biotechnology, nanotechnology, mathematics, geochemistry, process engineering, techno-economics, and social sciences will make it possible to pave the way for a more sustainable production of concrete for construction purposes in the bioeconomy era. 

The idea of BioZEment originates from the Research Council of Norway's first Idélab "Towards the Zero Emission Society" (2014). Our basic concept is to employ bacteria to produce acid to partially dissolve crushed limestone, and subsequently induce an increase in pH by biocatalysis to initiate re-precipitation of calcium carbonate to bind sand grains together, forming a solid, concrete-like construction material. Experimental results from the Idélab project indicate the overall feasibility of the BioZEment concept. However, in order to elevate the current technological achievements to the next level, an in-depth systems-scale understanding at different levels will be necessary to guide further development of the concept. To that purpose, the BioZEment consortium will team up with additional partners at IRIS and NTNU, forming BioZEment 2.0, to expand its theoretical and predictive capabilities in the fields of systems biology and bio-geochemical process modelling. This is essential to guide the BioZEment process towards commercial large-scale applications.

BioZEment 2.0 builds on the earlier project BioZEment.

Financing

Norwegian Research Council

Publications

  • Zehner, Jennifer Simone; Røyne, Anja & Sikorski, Pawel (2021). Calcite seed-assisted microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. 16(2). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240763. Full text in Research Archive
  • Schulz, Christian; Kumelj, Tjasa; Karlsen, Emil & Almaas, Eivind (2021). Genome-scale metabolic modelling when changes in environmental conditions affect biomass composition. PLoS Computational Biology. ISSN 1553-734X. 17(5). doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008528. Full text in Research Archive
  • Borch, Anita & Throne-Holst, Harald (2021). Does Proof of Concept Trump All? RRI Dilemmas in Research Practices. Science and Engineering Ethics. ISSN 1353-3452. 27(1). doi: 10.1007/s11948-021-00288-8.
  • Zehner, Jennifer Simone; Røyne, Anja; Wentzel, Alexander & Sikorski, Pawel (2020). Microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation: an experimental toolbox for in situ and real time investigation of micro-scale pH evolution. RSC Advances. ISSN 2046-2069. 10(35), p. 20485–20493. doi: 10.1039/d0ra03897k. Full text in Research Archive
  • Myhr, Anders; Røyne, Frida; Brandtsegg, Andreas Saur; Bjerkseter, Catho; Throne-Holst, Harald & Borch, Anita [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Towards a low CO2 emission building material employing bacterial metabolism (2/2): Prospects for global warming potential reduction in the concrete industry. PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. 14(4). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208643. Full text in Research Archive
  • Karlsen, Emil; Schulz, Christian & Almaas, Eivind (2018). Automated generation of genome-scale metabolic draft reconstructions based on KEGG. BMC Bioinformatics. ISSN 1471-2105. 19(467), p. 1–11. doi: 10.1186/s12859-018-2472-z. Full text in Research Archive

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  • Le, Simone Balzer (2021). Ny murstein skal redusere klimautslipp. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Murmesteren.
  • Le, Simone Balzer & Strand, Sindre Sverdrup (2021). Lager utslippsfri «betong» med bakterier. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Byggeindustrien.
  • Egge, Håvard & Le, Simone Balzer (2021). Bakteriebasert betong kan gi stor klimagevinst. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Gemini.no.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2021). Tverrfaglighet og sirkulærøkonomi.
  • Almaas, Eivind (2020). Stories of network analysis: Cellular metabolism to COVID-19.
  • Røyne, Anja & Seehusen, Joachim (2020). Lager betong med bakterier – gir store reduksjoner i CO₂-utslipp. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Teknisk Ukeblad.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2019). Quantifying responsiveness.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2019). AVSLÅR TVERRFAGLEG FORSKING. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Forskerforum.
  • Zehner, Jennifer Simone; Karlsen, Emil; Razbani, Mohammad Amin; Jettestuen, Espen; Malthe-Sørensen, Anders & Wentzel, Alexander [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2019). The quest for bio-concrete: crossing disciplinary boundaries and wrangling bacteria to enable cleaner construction.
  • Razbani, Mohammad Amin; Zehner, Jennifer Simone; Jettestuen, Espen; Røyne, Anja; Sikorski, Pawel & Malthe-Sørenssen, Anders (2019). A pore-scale model of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation.
  • Karlsen, Emil & Almaas, Eivind (2018). In silico evolution of plant-like structures.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2018). Paneldebatt: Fremtiden for genredigert (GMO) mat i Norge - Hva skal vi ha til middag?
  • Throne-Holst, Harald & Rose, Sunniva Johanne (2018). Hva er biotech? [Internet]. lørn.tech/lorn.pod.
  • Razbani, Mohammad Amin; Jettestuen, Espen; Røyne, Anja & Malthe-Sørenssen, Anders (2018). Modelling of dissolution and precipitation during microbially induced calcium carbonate cementation process using lattice Boltzmann method .
  • Ursin, Lars & Røyne, Anja (2018). Ekspertintervjuet: Bygg med bakterier. [Internet]. energiogklima.no.
  • Røyne, Anja (2018). Bærekraftig betong laget av bakterier.
  • Karlsen, Emil; Schulz, Christian & Almaas, Eivind (2018). Automatic assembly of genome-scale metabolic draft reconstructions from KEGG data.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2018). Getting our hands dirty. The issue of co-responsibility.
  • Karlsen, Emil; Zehner, Jennifer Simone; Razbani, Mohammad Amin; Jettestuen, Espen; Malthe-sørenssen, Anders & Wentzel, Alexander [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2018). Metabolic modelling, reactive transport modelling, and experimental verification of microbial-induced processes in the production of bio-concrete.
  • Karlsen, Emil & Almaas, Eivind (2018). Modeling the developmental physiology of plants.
  • Røyne, Anja (2018). Hvordan kan du bruke BioTech til å skape et nullutslippssamfunn? [Internet]. LØRN.TECH.
  • Røyne, Anja; Phua, Yi Jing; Eikjeland, Ina Grosås; Wentzel, Alexander; Le, Simone Balzer & Josefsen, Kjell Domaas [Show all 14 contributors for this article] (2018). BioZEment 2.0: Towards a low CO2 emission building material employing bacterial metabolism.
  • Røyne, Anja (2017). BioZEment 2.0: Construction materials made by bacteria.
  • Røyne, Anja; Phua, Yi Jing; Eikjeland, Ina Grosås; Le, Simone Balzer; Markussen, Sidsel & Josefsen, Kjell Domaas [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2017). Concrete production through microbially induced dissolution and re-precipitation of limestone.
  • Throne-Holst, Harald (2017). Responsible Research and Innovation - Concepts and practical examples.
  • Cintas, Olivia; Røyne, Frida & Al-Ayish, Nadia (2020). Climate impact of BioZEment in the construction of residential buildings in Norway. RISE. ISSN 978-91-89167-19-3.

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Published Nov. 27, 2017 2:39 PM - Last modified Feb. 20, 2024 6:03 PM