Implementation
StarchLight sees its implementation in the real world in brewery facilities in order to have a direct access to brewers’ spent grain providing a circular economy and a short circuit economy. Brewers will use its brewers’ spent grain produced during the brewing process to power the Starchlight device on-site. The energy can either be stored within the Starchlight device for later use or used in a continuous way by switching on and off the regulated system. Theoretically, the electricity produced will partially power breweries which will allow them to reduce their carbon footprint, both by changing the origin of the electricity so that it doesn’t come from polluting sources, and by reducing the transport emissions caused by the transport of the waste to remote facilities.
Figure 1: Pictures of our 3D-printed prototype
Figure 2: Video of StarchLight prototype made on SolidWorks
However, the implementation of equipment containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the food industry is highly regulated and the Starchlight device is designed accordingly. StarchLight must pay attention to these regulations for its implementation that could challenge the project even if we designed a device that avoids any leakage. The battery can be fully operated while maintained in its container. Indeed, the only operation needed to switch the device from its charging mode to its powering mode is to either expose or hide it from a light source thanks to its integrated door switch mechanism. The batteries would need to be refilled with a growth medium on a regular basis. This has to be performed in a laboratory with a proper biosafety and containment level.
Knowing this, we decided to interview someone from the French ministry of higher education and research about the implementation of our device. First, each use of GMOs needs to be analyzed by a risk assessment and also our device will need to be approved. However, we used GMOs that present no risk or a negligible risk for the environment and public health (pathogen class 1). Knowing this, two scenarios are possible. The first one consists of testing our prototype in a facility (laboratory or brewery) that does not yet have a GMO facility approval: the operator of the facility must apply for a facility approval and submit a GMO use declaration at the same time. Or, we could test our prototype in a facility that already has a GMO facility approval, then the operator of this facility must prepare and make available a risk assessment file for this new use to the Ministry of Research. As provided for in Article L. 532-3 of the Environmental Code, new class 1 uses may be implemented in an approved facility without having to repeat the declaration, subject to a prior risk assessment, which is made available to the administration. These self-assessments will be requested during inspection visits by the Ministry of Research.
Future prospects:
We created StarchLight with the intent of providing a new option to energy creation and storage. Moreover, we decided to focus on brewers' spent grain because it's a well-known industry that had readily available waste that was mostly unused. Eventually, the Starchlight design could be used by other industries that generate sugar-based or starch-based waste. For example, we have thought about implementing StarchLight in bakeries, who cannot always sell or give all of their bread and pastries. These represent an important part of the food waste. However, it is quite upgraded.
Moreover, since StarchLight produces poly-lactate (PLA), we could also adapt our project to be able to use this PLA directly. Nowadays, PLA is mainly used for food packaging but also to make disposable cups and cutlery, labels, fibers.
Furthermore, we will need to consider a quicker activation system of the PLA degradation. For example, an optogenetic protein trapping system can be activated faster than a transcriptional one. The polymerisation of polylactate should also be under regulation. Indeed, the polymerization cannot be continuous, once PLA stored and the optogenetic system will be deactivated and once needed, the depolymerization will be activated.