Industrial biotechnology, sometimes called “white biotechnology", can be defined as the application of biotechnology for the processing and production of chemicals, material and energy. In other words, products that affect people’s everyday life in terms of health, food and nutrition, as well as energy for transport and electricity.   In later years, there has emerged a strong emphasis on industrial biotechnology in research and industry. In response to this, Professor Lisbeth Olsson was recruited to Chalmers in 2008, and the Industrial Biotechnology group was founded.

Even though a number of classical fermentation processes can be mentioned, the major break-through in the area of industrial biotechnology is due to the recent years of development in fast and efficient genetic techniques not only for laboratory pet microorganisms, but also for industrially relevant microorganisms. A large number of prospectively important traditional and novel products can be listed that are expected to form important industrial products, produced by biotech processes in the future.  For the future it is expected that bio-based production will be increasingly important in the chemical sector, as it offers a possibility to move away from the petroleum-based economy to a more sustainable economy. An exponential growth of bio-based production is therefore forecasted. A key factor in this development is the availability of cheap and sustainable raw materials, where plant cell wall material is undergoing large interest.

In our group we work both with the production of bulk chemicals, such as ethanol and succinate, and of more complex molecules, such as bioactive molecules with high added value. We also work with enzymatic refining of plant material. Our group is expanding and we are continuously recruiting new students and personnel, see Vacant positions and Master projects.