BioBind for the Amazon

Project summary

The Brazil nut is a weapon against deforestation in the Amazon. Valorising this crop in new ways is key to protecting the Amazon from deforestation.

Getting equipment in the hands of indigenous operators should be of interest to the global EA community.

We want to deploy a protein fibre manufacturing system to the Amazon basin for R&D and product development. This will enable operators in the region to develop a regenerative material supply chain to reduce the impact of agricultural plastics.

Establishing one fibre production unit alongside a nut oil press could deliver an additional $90,000 USD to co-operative operators.

This is a high impact project, seeking to maximise positive impact for the environment and local populations.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

Our solution is to create a prototype of agricultural twine and mulch mats using a biobased and biodegradable fibre produced from products local to the Amazon region. If successful, this project will enable farmers and growers to make simple changes to their practices to use less problematic plastics.

Specifically, we will demonstrate the development of a new fibre from soy, nut or keratin proteins from waste streams. These protein fibres will be converted into fundamental agricultural products and demonstrated in situ.

This solution will perform the job required, as a plant tie, bale twine or mulch mat and will degrade into the soil on a much shorter timeline than conventional plastics. This is fundamentally different as it utilises a biobased feedstock which does not compete with food production or promote deforestation. This is a downside to other alternatives to plastic such as corn based PLA or cellulose from woodpulp, hemp and sisal. This solution looks to be genuinely compatible with pragmatic regenerative agriculture.

It also seeks to valorise proteins from the region which would normally go to low value streams such as animal feed or disposed of entirely. This represents a step change in the thinking around a circular economy and we are looking to leverage agricultural by-products to create more sustainable agricultural inputs.

We will achieve these aims by skipping several steps and deploying the technology directly to the region, challenging local expertise to identify solutions to their unique challenges. This is a project that can only be done through EA funding - there is little commercial incentive for this approach.

What problem are we addressing?

This project seeks to address three principal challenges:

Low density of innovations developed from and for the Amazon region1
Pervasive use of agricultural plastics in agriculture2
Need for a new class of protein fibres developed from novel feedstocks3
Supporting the agronomy of the Brazil nut - one of the few sustainable materials in the Amazon

Low R&D density

The Amazon biome is of obvious critical importance for local, regional and global prosperity. However, the ability of local experts to develop R&D capability is not commensurate with the size and impact of the region. R&D is a neglected area and lack of equipment and knowledge hamstrings attempts to develop solutions.4 In particular, access to equipment for development is a key barrier to outcomes and impacts from projects.

Agricultural Plastics

We are addressing the overuse of plastics in agriculture. Nylon, polypropylene, polythene and polyester are used extensively as twine, mulch mats, ground covers and for baling and packing materials. Globally, 12.5 Billion kgs are used annually and they are so prevalent that the term “plasticulture” has been created to cover their intensive use. Plastic use in Latin America is growing with plastic films for mulch mats alone covering 200,000 hectares in the region.

The use of these materials leads to several problems. The plastics do not degrade and there are issues with recycling related to the local infrastructure in the Amazon region and with the contamination of the plastics. The next problem is the formation of microplastics that can find their way into the soil, rivers, oceans and are ingestion by aquatic animals.

This is a global problem but the solutions may require a more regional approach. In the UN report Assessment of Agricultural Plastics1 the recommendation is for more sustainable and circular economy alternatives are made available as a priority action if progress is to be made on SDG 12. Solving this problem requires innovative thinking to propose materials that are effective, low cost and available locally. This is not a problem that is attracting VC funding so it is on the EA community to find means of impact.

New protein fibres

The creation of synthetic protein fibres has been of interest to material scientists since Lanital was commercialised in the 1940s. If we are to create a new class of synthetic materials, capable of adding value in agriculture, technical and biomedical fields we need deeper understanding. Fortunately, tools such as Deepmind AlphaFold 3 can accelerate our understanding of how we can isolate and unfurl proteins into filaments.

This will enable us to quickly test and iterate in the digital space across a range of feedstocks. This interface between AI/ML predictive modeling and realworld data may of particular interest to the EA community.

Supporting the Brazil Nut Harvest

Brazil nuts provide key sources of revenue for the Amazon region. For example, 27,000 people (38% of the population) in Madre de Dios depended directly on Brazil nuts for their livelihoods. This included administrative workers, as well as harvesters, splitters, shellers, hauliers and traders. The other trade in Madre de Dios is extractive gold mining and timber products.

This crop has been identified as one of the main opportunities for indigenous entrepreneurship - as individuals through harvesting or processing as a cooperative.

“The Indigenous Zoró people in the Brazilian Amazon have struck a balance between generating income and keeping their forest standing, thanks to the Brazil nut”

The principal social benefit of our innovation is an economic benefit centred on the cooperative nut oil organisations. Additional revenue gained by processing their waste nut meal into fibres will bring a direct cash benefit to the region. This will create a regenerative agronomy model that can provide additional incomes for community nut oil operations.

A 200t community oil press could produce 70t of twine from their protein waste, generating $190k USD for the operators.

How will this funding be used?

We have a modular set of activities and work packages to match the level of EA funding we can attract. Our objective is to deploy the technology to the region as soon as possible. However, if we fall short of our funding goal we have reactive plans to enable core activities to proceed to deliver near term impact.

Work package 1 $12,200 (Q1 2025) Fully funded.

Deploy a wet spinning machine to the Amazon region for testing and evaluation of the concept. This would likely be with a nut oil cooperative in Puerto Maldonado. This region is a hub for Brazil nut and nut oil production and is a node for agricultural and mining activities.

Spends: prototype machinery, R&D expertise

Work Package 2 $1600 (Q1 2025) Stretch funding

To assess the performance and effectiveness of our prototypes in real-world agricultural settings, we require documentation tools and mechanisms for collecting qualitative feedback from farmers and growers. This feedback will be instrumental in refining our prototypes and optimising their performance. This work package will seek to engage farmers of different types to evaluate the yarn as a tool for plant ties, crop protection, baling twine and some of the manifold uses of agricultural textile.

Spend: labour for Amazon team, travel, prototyping trials

Work Package 3 $2200 (Q4 2024) Stretch funding

Deep data visualisation and AI augmented prediction. Understanding sources and volumes of protein feedstocks is key to exploitation and building a roadmap to a regenerative agricultural system. Mapping out regional data on brazil nut/amazonian castanas and soy production hotspots can help forecast areas and locales of impact. Use machine learning tools to triangulate sites of interest based on input datasets.

Spend: data science, AI credits

Work Package 4 $2600 (Q4 2024) Stretch funding

Use Deepmind Alphafold 3 prediction to forecast how different proteins from Amazon feedstocks (Brazil nut, Peruvian Castanas, Soy) can be unfurled and formed into fibres. Validate in the lab on fibre forming equipment with downstream structure assessment.

Spend: compute for folding/formation prediction, labour for testing and X-ray diffraction time

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Dr. O'Haire is a fibre and material expert and will lead on the development and deployment of the manufacturing solution. He has developed several fibre production platforms for a range of scenarios. Chidera Anele is a biochemist and will lead on the integration of the fibre production unit with local protein feedstocks.

On the ground in the Amazon, we have conservation and agricultural leads in Sabina Huayara and Bruno Heleno who work in Peru and Brazil respectively. They will engage with the local supply chain and integrate suppliers and local customers around our production suite. They are experts in identifying and scaling regenerative practices to support and protect the Amazon ecology and indigenous communities whilst generating opportunities for those in the region.

Helping with data quality and visualisation is our LA based Data Scientist Teodoro. He has delivered several data viz projects on sustainable impact. He will lead on mapping and qualifying sites of opportunity which have the right balance of users, supply inputs and infrastructure.

We are supported through Conservation x Labs and Carbon 13 who can help us document and measure impact. We will follow the principles outlined in the Innovator’s Handbook.

What are the benefits (and potential unintended consequences) of your project for Amazon communities?

Our innovation holds significant promise for Amazonian communities, offering tangible social and environmental benefits while promoting economic resilience and sustainability. By fostering a circular economic model within the region, our initiative creates new revenue streams for local protein producers while reducing reliance on commodity plastics. This shift not only strengthens the local economy but also aligns with the future Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets of large buyers, enhancing the region's market competitiveness.

Widespread adoption of our innovation will lead to a notable reduction in plastic pollution from agricultural systems in the Amazon, yielding manifold economic and ecological advantages.

Beyond its direct impact, the production of biobased agricultural products within the region will catalyse knowledge transfer and skill development in textile manufacturing, potentially revitalising other sectors of the economy such as craft production and valorisation of natural fibres from livestock. Long term, our initiative has the potential to stimulate further innovation in protein utilisation and the development of sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics, thereby fostering a culture of environmental stewardship and innovation within Amazonian communities.

This innovation represents a multifaceted opportunity for the Amazon, offering economic empowerment, environmental conservation, and social progress. Through collaborative efforts and responsible implementation, we aim to maximise the positive impact of our initiative while ensuring its alignment with the cultural values and aspirations of Amazonian communities.

We are mindful of unintended consequences for the region when our inputs and outputs are part of the agricultural supply chain.

Understanding the degradation of the fibres and impact on soil health is an ecological risk. This will be mitigated by leveraging expertise and know-how from existing work to understand the consequences of protein fibres. To mitigate this, only small amounts of material will be used in-situ initially.

In an extreme case, overuse of the protein based mulch mat or twine could lead to excess nitrogen supply as the product degrades. This could have unforeseen consequences to the local biome that cannot be forecast.

If this proposed solution reaches the scale of thousands of tonnes annually, it could potentially outstrip the supply of protein in the region. This could lead to imports of feedstocks for processing, or competition with the food supply chain for protein inputs.

Outcomes and Updates

Once implemented, a basic production suite could produce 23t of agricultural commodity products per year, servicing the needs of hundreds of local smallholdings. The displacement of agricultural plastics is estimated to be 25t, reducing the amount of nylon and polypropylene imported into the Amazon region. This could also mitigate 59t of CO2e per year through production and end-of-life impacts.

Learnings and datasets generated in WP3 and WP4 will be shared open-source for others to build upon. This could lead to deeper understanding of protein fibre formation, having significant downstream benefits at a global scale. This project data could spotlight new opportunities for researchers in protein engineering, materials science and healthcare.

The EA community will be updated at milestones to document progress and calculate impact. This will be done through a notion page to detail activities. Through Conservation x Labs we will document and publicise our efforts to bring this solution to the Amazon to engage stakeholders and highlight the need for change.

Impact Certificate - we will establish how we can audit and document our impact to engage retroactive backers and enable a tradable certificate of impact.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

The prototyping phase has been supported by Conservation X Labs through the Amazon initiative: https://conservationxlabs.com/cxtp-amazon.

Our MVP development is being supported by Carbon 13: https://carbonthirteen.com/

However, current funding is limited to off-site development. We need to get this machine on-site in the Amazon region. Real impact comes from the shortcut to deployment that EA can enable.

References

Further Links

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/for-indigenous-zoro-the-brazil-nut-is-a-weapon-against-deforestation