A new interdisciplinary research collaboration between North Carolina State University (NC State) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) aims to uncover new biology-based methods for CO2 management and sustainable fertilizer production.

Reducing carbon emissions and developing environmentally friendly paths to fertilizer production are increasingly urgent challenges. With the new interdisciplinary research collaboration between NC State and DTU, called the Biocatalyst Interactions with Gases (BIG) Collaboration, the ambition is to investigate and find novel enzyme-based approaches that, once scaled up, can minimise industrial CO2 emissions as well as lower the energy requirement for ammonia production.

The BIG Collaboration will be led by NC State and is made possible by a DKK 50 million (USD 6.5 million) grant, which the Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded for a five-year period.

Torben V. Borchert, Scientific Director at the Foundation, notes: ​​“The Novo Nordisk Foundation is very pleased to initiate and support this highly ambitious interdisciplinary project which will grow our understanding of fundamental biological questions,” adding: “the project has strong potential to develop new sustainable processes for the production of essential chemicals, resulting in significant societal benefit.”

With the latest grant to the BIG Collaboration, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded a total of nearly DKK 250 million (USD 33 million) to NC State across ten disciplines. The partnership contributes to advancing student and faculty development as well as driving innovations and research-based solutions.

Read more about the BIG Collaboration here.