Eco-Solution develops and markets evolved micro-organisms and new ways of improving overall performance in industrial biological processes by increasing the microbial biodiversity needed to make them effective. The company has developed a unique technology platform (O.N.E.) to help select and develop new micro-organisms which give industry the ability to meet a range of environmental and regulatory requirements. This directed in vivo evolution platform is based on the acceleration of natural evolution and requires no manipulation of the genome.

Eco-Solution has already brought its first applications to market in the environmental sector. These include an innovative treatment of ammoniacal nitrogen contained in municipal and industrial wastewater as well as custom solutions to treat particularly recalcitrant industrial wastewater challenges.

The company is also developing new applications of its technology to improve the capabilities of microalgae. These applications will boost performance in producing molecules of interest in the fields of nutrition and health as well as increasing significantly the productivity of microalgae involved in the production of third generation biofuels.

Specifically, this innovative technology, which opens for the first time access to cost effective production of renewable energy, is based on recent discoveries in biology and technology developed and patented by Eco-Solution. New manipulation tools make it possible to intensify the natural selection of variants, like the systems of high throughput screening used in the search for pharmacologically active molecules. 

The first application targeted by this innovation is the market for biofuel production from microalgae, micro-organisms that use solar energy as the sole energy source. This technology also has applications in other fields of activity stirred up by Eco-Solution as the treatment of persistent pollutants in wastewater, soils and sediments, as well as improved processes for biomass. Regarding this last point, the company found that only a tiny fraction of the biomass was “valued” and that the conditions of this development were far from satisfactory, especially in bio-fuel.

“The application of directed evolution techniques implemented by Eco-Solution is expected to extend considerably the quantities of biomass treatable and the performance of industrial treatment facilities existing or future.” The company develops new applications to enhance the capacity of microalgae and increase their productivity, which should soon lead to the production of third generation biofuels.

“This platform enables broadband Eco-Solution to make a significant advance in the development of algocarburants,” said Dominique Duvauchelle, president of Eco-Solution, which adds that “the production of petroleum-based microalgae is a response unprecedented limitation of mineral resources and the problems caused by agrofuels which consume agricultural resources normally dedicated to meeting the food. “ 

Many applications and diverse 

In general, the company mobilizes its resources and scientific tools to provide industrial solutions for improvement of metabolic micro-organisms based on techniques of directed evolution in vivo. These techniques, which aim at an enlargement of microbial biodiversity, enhance the overall performance of industrial biological processes. They improve the economy of the process, make the industrial use simpler and more environmentally friendly. They are also led to new methods of effluent treatment by Eco-Solution offers the industry to expand the potential of existing biological treatment. The fields of applications of such technology are many and varied: agriculture, agricultural industry, environmental protection, biochemistry, etc..

Founded in 1999, Eco-Solution is located at the Biocitech technology park near Paris. It employs 30 people and has already raised over EUR 13 million from private investors.