en.Wedoany.com Reported - Shenzhen Qirun New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. (Qirun New Energy) and Hefei BGI Youyi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (BGI Youyi) recently signed the "Strategic Cooperation and Joint R&D Framework Agreement." This collaboration leverages BGI's foundational genomics research capabilities, combined with Qirun New Energy's industrial empowerment advantages in pilot-scale amplification, supply chain integration, and nationwide market deployment. It focuses on three core directions: directed domestication of highly active stress-resistant functional strains, development of green biological and enzyme preparation processes, and large-scale application in agricultural and forestry scenarios, aiming to achieve a full-cycle closed loop from gene-level strain customization to terminal industrial value realization.
The biomass industry has long been constrained by microbial efficiency bottlenecks: naturally domesticated strains have insufficient lignin degradation rates, poor biomass conversion stability, making it difficult to produce high-end bio-based fibers at low cost or efficiently convert organic waste into clean energy. The core of this collaboration is to directly apply BGI's genome-directed editing technology from laboratory research scenarios to industrial-scale biomass conversion capacity. By screening gene targets to construct functional composite bacterial systems, two high-value closed loops will be formed: agricultural and forestry waste degraded by genetically engineered microbial agents can produce high-purity green biofibers to replace core raw materials for petrochemical plastics; high-COD wastewater from the fiber process, combined with livestock and poultry manure, can be converted into bio-natural gas through anaerobic fermentation with customized microbial agents, which can be fed into the pipeline network, benefiting from policy subsidies and carbon sink revenues.
Combined with the energy supporting system previously reached by Qirun New Energy and PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gasfield Company for on-site plant construction, on-site purification, and on-site consumption, this project establishes a multi-tiered profit structure of "high-value materials as the foundation, clean energy as the safety net, and solid waste disposal for cost reduction," aiming to break through the industry pain point where biomass technology is feasible but not profitable.
Li Haohan, Chairman of Qirun New Energy, stated that agricultural microbial biomanufacturing is a golden track supporting the green transformation of agriculture and the development of the bioeconomy. The most scarce capability in the current industry is not laboratory technology reserves, but the ability to transform laboratory technologies into standardized, scalable products. Qirun New Energy will open up resources including industrial capital, pilot-scale processes, supply chain networks, and terminal market channels to support strain R&D iteration and large-scale market promotion, building a collaborative model of "BGI Youyi's underlying technology + Qirun New Energy's industrial implementation."
Wang Mingming, General Manager of Hefei BGI Youyi, stated that this collaboration is a key layout for the market-oriented implementation of BGI's cutting-edge biotechnologies. BGI Youyi will invest core R&D efforts to develop efficient and stable microbial products tailored to China's agricultural scenarios. The two parties will work together to create standardized, replicable, and scalable agricultural biomanufacturing solutions.
In the future, the two parties plan to deploy 100,000-ton agricultural and forestry non-point source pollution control demonstration projects in multiple major agricultural provinces, continuously optimize microbial agent performance through directed domestication, expand more biomass utilization scenarios, and jointly build a green agricultural technology ecosystem.
