We are pleased to announce that we have signed a licence agreement with the Doha-based industrial biotech investor Gulf Biotech for the construction of a plant to produce sustainable and organic protein in Qatar based on Unibio’s U-Loop® technology. The planned facility will be the region’s first natural-gas-to-protein plant. The licence agreement covers a plant that will initially have one module – consisting of four U-Loop® fermentors with a total annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes of Uniprotein®. The technology is based on a modular design, and extra modules can easily be added to expand the production. The Uniprotein® produced by the plant will be used as a protein supplement in feed for fish and animals to replace unsustainable existing products derived from fishmeal or soy. The abundant availability of natural gas makes Qatar an ideal location for the conversion of natural gas into protein.
Gulf biotech is a young company founded by His Excellency Hitmi Al-Hitmi to promote and invest in the industrial biotech sector. The company is pleased to start its mission with an innovative and sustainable project such as using natural gas to produce animal feed protein based on Unibio’s patented U-Loop® technology. This will help to put Qatar on the industrial map as a world leader in the production of animal feed protein, using Qatar’s natural resources to tackle the highly pressing challenge of producing sustainable food for the world’s rapidly growing population.
Henrik Busch-Larsen, CEO of Unibio, states: “The abundance of natural gas in Qatar makes the country an obvious choice for the production of Uniprotein®. We are delighted to be partnering with Gulf Biotech, which is visionary, ambitious and open to new technologies. Together, we can help address one of Qatar’s and the world’s major challenges and sustainably feed the world’s growing population. We look forward to bringing our partnership to the next phase where we will plan the engineering and construction of the new plant.”
Quote from His Excellency Hitmi Al-Hitmi: “We are extremely pleased to have signed this licence agreement with Unibio for the construction of a plant to produce organic and sustainable protein from natural gas. As the world seeks to feed its ever-growing population in an environmentally sustainable manner, the opportunity for us to produce protein-based on the fermentation of natural gas in Qatar is highly important. We see enormous potential for the future sustainable development of our business in Qatar and beyond.”