Terragia, a recently capitalized start-up, aims to develop consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) using engineered thermophilic bacteria to convert cellulosic biomass into fuels at low cost without added…

Terragia Biofuel Inc. received a $181,500 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program award (CFDA 10.212) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), with an award date of August 15, 2025, and completion date of April 14, 2026. The project focuses on advancing consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) technology to convert cellulosic biomass into biofuels using engineered thermophilic bacteria without added enzymes or thermochemical pretreatment. Specifically, Terragia will test Spontaneous Particle Expansion Cotreatment (SPEC), an innovative mechanical disruption method applied during fermentation to enhance biological deconstruction of cellulosic biomass—offering an alternative to existing milling techniques while maintaining the cost-effectiveness benefits of pretreatment-free processing.

This Phase I project builds upon prior research demonstrating that mechanical disruption of biomass during fermentation, combined with naturally efficient thermophilic anaerobic bacteria like Clostridium thermocellum, can achieve high carbohydrate solubilization yields. The work is responsive to USDA strategic objectives addressing climate change and rural economic development and represents a potentially disruptive technology with significant technical risk and commercial potential in the biofuels and bioproducts sector. Performance of this SBIR-funded research will take place at Terragia's facility in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Terragia, a recently capitalized start-up, aims to develop consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) using engineered thermophilic bacteria to convert cellulosic biomass into fuels at low cost without added enzymes or thermochemical pretreatment. The proposed phase i sbir project is responsive to USDA strategic goals addressing climate change and rural economic development, aligned with the focus of the biofuels and bioproducts topic area on new manufacturing processes, and embodies the sbir program's emphasis on potentially disruptive technology with a high degree of technical risk. This proposal builds on prior work led by the PD:• thermophilic, anaerobic, cellulolytic bacteria exemplified by clostridium thermocellum are decisively more effective at solubilizing the carbohydrate fraction of cellulosic biomass than commercial cellulase preparations. This invites the hypothesis that compared to conventional enzymatic hydrolysis, less severe conditions and perhaps different approaches may be sufficient to enable high carbohydrate solubilization via CBP.• a foundational patent was issued in 2020 (US patent 10,533,194) on using mechanical disruption of cellulosic biomass during fermentation to enhance biologically mediated cellulosic biomass deconstruction, termed cotreatment. In one embodiment, ball milling during fermentation enables near complete solubilization of the carbohydrate in several lignocellulosic feedstocks, providing strong evidence that mechanical disruption is sufficient to enable high CBP carbohydrate solubilization yields, and that enzymatic pretreatment or chemical reaction is not required. The proposed project involves testing spontaneous particle expansion cotreatment (spec), an innovative alternative to milling as a means to mechanically disrupt cellulosic biomass during fermentation in order to enhance biologically mediated deconstruction. This innovative, never-before-proposed approach has potential to realize the benefits of pretreatment without addition of enzymes, chemicals or energy.