The bioeconomy below zero

Just below the Arctic Circle, Kris Berglund, MSU biochemical processing researcher, is collaborating with scientists at the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden on products and processes that may play a crucial role in furthering Michigan's bioeconomy.

"There are parallels between Michigan and Sweden," Berglund explained. "The population is roughly the same, as is the land mass of each. Also, neither Sweden nor Michigan has large amounts of investment capital. I think Michigan could use some of the innovative approaches that Sweden is developing to really push the transition to a bioeconomy."

Berglund's research has spawned enterprises in Webberville, Mich., Sweden and France, and raised tantalizing possibilities for diversified biorefineries that crank out bioproducts ranging from fuels to chemicals.

Working Bugs, the Webberville-based company, is a partnership between Spartan Technology Development, another Berglund company based in East Lansing, and the Michigan Brewing Company, the Webberville beer brewer. As the name implies, Working Bugs identifies microbes that could be used in fermentation processes to make products from renewable resources, as well as intermediate chemicals that are then used to make other biobased products.

The research to identify potentially useful microbes will be done in Sweden at Luleå University. The chemical catalysis and reaction research will be conducted at Michigan State, and the processes will be integrated, validated and commercialized through Working Bugs.

"The microbes will come from a variety of places," Berglund explained. "Once we identify an organism that might work, we have to refine it and scale it up so production is economically viable. When research identifies something we're confident in, Working Bugs will test it on a large scale."