Production of low-carbon alternatives to traditional fossil-derived chemicals is necessary to ensure a sustainable and green future. Praio has developed synthetic protocells, which enable this transition by providing tremendous flexibility for chemical manufacturing. In particular, Praio will produce sustainable aviation fuel with >50 percent lower emissions than traditional jet fuel.
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Advait Holkar
Advait Holkar is the founder and CEO of Praio, a biomanufacturing startup focusing on low-cost production of biocommodities. He completed his bachelor's degree at IIT Delhi and obtained a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UCLA. Holkar formed Praio based on his graduate research and is dedicated to reducing reliance on fossil-based sources for a sustainable and green future.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
The aviation industry generates about two percent of anthropogenic CO2 emissions globally. Since aircraft require an energy-dense fuel source, the industry is difficult to decarbonize, especially when it comes to electrifying medium- to long-haul flights. There is urgent demand for drop-in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and the U.S. Department of Energy launched the SAF Grand Challenge in 2021 to dramatically increase its production. The cost of SAF production by conventional technologies, however, is two to four times that of fossil-derived jet fuel. Praio will overcome this significant economic hurdle by enabling the low-cost production of SAF using our protocellular biocatalysis platform.
Technology Vision
The cellular organisms we know today, which eat, grow, and reproduce, are complex machines resulting from billions of years of evolution. However, this complex functionality is not required for chemical manufacturing when only the end-product is desired, and it instead imposes several restrictions. Praio has created synthetic protocells using commercially available polymers, which mimic structures that would have served as evolutionary precursors to cells. The simplified architecture and bottom-up construction of protocells provide tremendous flexibility in reaction pathways and their processing conditions. Praio will leverage this protocellular platform to produce bio-derived commodities such as SAF economically.
Potential for Impact
Protocells provide tremendous flexibility in reaction pathways, not only unlocking a variety of end-products, but also being able to consume a variety of feedstocks. Moreover, their simplified architecture provides resistance to chemicals that could be toxic to whole cells. These factors enable Praio to replace traditional energy- and carbon-intensive chemical engineering processes with more efficient biocatalytic processes using protocells. In particular, Praio will facilitate the expansion of SAF production by enabling the low-cost production of SAF from diverse feedstocks.