According to United Nations projections, global food demand could increase by around 60 percent by 2050, while only about two percent additional agricultural land is expected to become available. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are therefore exploring new approaches to safeguard food security. A team at the TUM Campus Straubing has developed a process for producing crucial amino acids from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and renewable energy.
Jan Winter / TUM Viktoria Lehmann, a doctoral researcher at the TUM Chair of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources, describes one potential application for biotechnologically produced amino acids: "A dairy cow needs far more than the grass growing in its pasture. High milk yields require supplemental protein, which is typically supplied through animal feed. These feeds are enriched with amino acids, the chemical building blocks of proteins. Across livestock production systems worldwide, millions of tons of amino acids are used as feed additives. However, their production consumes large amounts of land, water, and other resources. We wanted to find a more resource-efficient way to meet this protein demand."
In a recently published study , the team demonstrated its approach. The concept behind it: solar energy is converted into electricity using photovoltaic systems. This electricity is used to generate hydrogen, which, together with carbon dioxide, is converted into methanol-an alcohol widely used in industry as a chemical precursor. Specialized enzymes then convert the methanol step by step into amino acids. Which amino acid is produced depends on the specific enzymes used.
"Plants use sunlight to build biomass, but they are relatively inefficient at doing so. We are investigating an alternative pathway in which renewable energy is first converted into chemical energy carriers and then into valuable protein building blocks," says Volker Sieber , Professor of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources and Rector of the TUM Campus Straubing. "In the long term, this approach could help make more productive use of available land and enable a more sustainable production of amino acids."
Plants use sunlight to build biomass, but they are relatively inefficient at doing so. We are investigating an alternative pathway in which renewable energy is first converted into chemical energy carriers and then into valuable protein building blocks.
Volker Sieber
A modular platform technology
In 2023, the researchers demonstrated the production of the amino acid L-alanine from green methanol. Their latest work expands the approach to a total of seven amino acids. "Our modular plug-and-play concept can be compared to a construction kit," says Dr. Vivian Willers, whose doctoral research laid the foundation for the study. "What started with a single amino acid is increasingly evolving into a platform technology for producing protein building blocks from renewable energy."
The team successfully produced the amino acids glycine, serine, L-aspartic acid, L-valine, L-glutamic acid, and L-proline. In the future, this technology could help reduce dependence on protein-rich feed ingredients such as soy, which are not always produced sustainably. These amino acids are also key components of nutrient media used in cultured meat production. As a result, the researchers see applications extending well beyond conventional agriculture.
While the team was able to demonstrate the entire process chain-from carbon dioxide via methanol ultimately to amino acids-the current production volumes are still too low for commercial use. The researchers are therefore working to further improve the performance of the enzymes involved.
"Our work is primarily a proof of technological feasibility," says Prof. Volker Sieber. "We have shown that a broad range of biologically relevant amino acids can be produced from CO₂-based methanol. This opens up new possibilities for the sustainable production of protein building blocks."
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Willers, V. P., Lehmann, V., Müller, S., Vogelgsang, F., Roth, A., Blombach, B., Pick, A. & Sieber, V.: Plug and Play - Enzymatic Amino Acid Production from Methanol and Carbon Dioxide. Nature Communications (2026). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74522-x
- Volker Sieber is the Rector of the TUM Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability (TUMCS) . TUMCS conducts interdisciplinary research and teaching aimed at developing sustainable technologies and implementing them economically while taking ecological and social factors into account.
