Teno Bioworks

Plastic packaging, perfume fragrances, textile dyes – many everyday products contain chemicals derived from petroleum. While bio-based alternatives emit less CO₂, they often only reduce emissions by about half and require large amounts of land and water.

Ronja Rappold and her team are taking a different path: they have developed a process that produces chemicals using a microorganism and green methanol, which can be made, for example, from captured CO₂ or waste biomass.

Her approach drastically reduces water consumption, decreases land use by a factor of 15, and achieves 45 percent higher output than current biotechnological methods. During the Pioneer Fellowship, Ronja Rappold will further develop the technology and prepare the founding of her company. Her goal: affordable, fossil-free chemical production for a climate-friendly industry.