The Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit, or ABPDU, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office and run by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), was established in 2009 to help biomanufacturing companies scale up innovative biotechnologies and transition them to the marketplace. To date, ABPDU has collaborated with over 90 industry partners (of which 79 are U.S. companies). Many have set up their own labs or pilot plants, secured additional funding, and launched their own products as a direct result of working with ABPDU.
The state-of-the-art facility, located in the Bay Area's East Bay biohub, includes infrastructure used by all sectors of industrial biotechnology, including deconstruction equipment, fermentation equipment with fully customizable process control capabilities, a full suite of downstream recovery unit operations, custom engineering, and comprehensive analytical capabilities.
According to ABPDU Director Deepti Tanjore, "Many biomanufacturing startups and companies don't have the specific equipment or expertise needed to fully de-risk and pilot new biotechnology products. Our facility provides these needed resources so that they can generate prototypes and get them market-ready."
In this 9-minute audio interview, Deepti Tanjore, director of the ABPDU, discusses the resources that the facility and its staff offer to help bring bio-based products to market and train the next generation of scientists.
Some examples of how ABPDU has been instrumental in the development of new products include:
Checkerspot Innovative Skis
With help from ABPDU, Checkerspot, based in Alameda, California, has scaled up a process to use algae oils to create a new strong yet lightweight, flexible, and energy-damping polymer that has significant advantages for recreational equipment like skis compared to the multilayer plastic materials that are currently used. In July 2019, the company's outdoor brand, WNDR Alpine, launched its first ski model, called Intention 110, to high acclaim
