PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside Energy has unveiled a $9.9-million equity investment in biotechnology company String Bio Private, which has developed a patented process that can recycle greenhouse gases into value-added products such as feed for livestock.
Woodside said on Monday that the company is exploring the potential of String Bio’s carbon-to-products technology to support its decarbonisation efforts, targeting abatement of methane emissions at its operational sites.
String Bio’s proprietary technology converts methane into a single-cell protein that could provide a sustainable alternative in animal and human nutrition as well as agriculture products, with a focus on improving the sustainability of crops and food production, land and water use.
Woodside and String Bio have also entered a strategic development agreement to explore opportunities for the potential commercial scale-up of String Bio’s technology.
The String Bio investment, which is subject to conditions precedent, is part of Woodside’s target to spend $5-billion on new energy products and lower-carbon services by 2030.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the company aimed to thrive through the energy transition with a resilient and diversified portfolio.
“Our investment in String Bio builds on our ability to potentially abate greenhouse gases through the conversion of carbon into useful products.
“We believe String Bio’s technology could eventually be used to recycle methane at Woodside facilities. It could also be deployed at third-party sites with available biomethane such as landfill facilities and farms,” she said.