Straw utilization is a challenge, and scientists both at home and abroad are making efforts. This project has achieved a technological breakthrough, playing a good exemplary role in connecting the industrial chain.

Using this technology for the treatment of brewing waste materials such as sorghum stalks and waste rice husks can address the long-standing problem of recycling in the brewing industry and solve ecological issues in brewing.

On March 9, the project "Research and Application of Tri-component Separation Technology and Complete Equipment for Biological Enzymatic Depolymerization of Straw Lignocellulose" jointly completed by Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd., Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Qilu University of Technology, and Suzhou Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd. passed the scientific research achievement appraisal organized by China National Light Industry Council.

technical level: internationally leading

The experts of the appraisal committee unanimously agreed that the project has a highly innovative technical approach and high equipment integration. It has reached an internationally leading level in the efficient separation of all components of straw resources and their high-value conversion, providing important technological support for the upgrade of China's biomass chemical industry.

The project was reported by Professor Lu Fuping from Tianjin University of Science and Technology. The project leader, Zang Lihua, General Manager of Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the project was jointly completed by the team of Professor Lu Fuping from Tianjin University of Science and Technology. The project uses enzyme catalysis technology to replace traditional chemical and physical treatment technologies, and through the independent creation of high-performance core enzymes, it has broken through the bottlenecks in molecular design and intelligent manufacturing of lignocellulosic straw depolymerizing enzymes and their industrial applications. This has improved the utilization rate of straw, reduced the amount of straw burning and the use of chemical reagents, decreased pollutant emissions, and achieved the recycling of resources, reaching a win-win situation for economic and ecological benefits.

Experts stated that the project team, through years of research, has broken through key enzymatic hydrolysis technology, solving the worldwide problem of using biological enzymes for the separation of straw components.

According to the information, this scientific research project, based on the structural characteristics of lignocellulosic straw and the properties of enzyme molecules, has formed different combinations of enzymatic depolymerization systems. After enzymatic catalytic reactions through different processes, the product quality exceeds various technical indicators in national standards, and the enterprise efficiency has significantly increased.

In addition, the scientific research project has for the first time completed an industrial test production line for the separation of three components from 10,000 tons of straw raw materials per year, achieving a breakthrough from "0 to 1" in original technology at the industrial level, moving from laboratory research. It possesses fully independently developed intellectual property rights for innovative enzymes that depolymerize lignocellulosic straw components and enzyme catalytic reactors. Compared with traditional chemical production processes, this industrial test line reduces energy (steam, electricity) consumption by more than 70%, saves over 80% water, and has a raw material utilization rate close to 100%.

The expert appraisal committee unanimously agreed that the scientific research project has achieved core innovations in three major areas: the creation of new types of lignocellulose degrading enzymes, the development of a new set of enzymatic reaction equipment, and the ten-thousand-ton scale industrial validation of enzymatic processes and equipment. Through the full-chain innovation of "enzyme-equipment-process", the scientific research project has addressed the industry pain points of insufficient component disassembly and low product value-added in straw utilization. The China National Light Industry Council evaluated that the results of the project "provide a Chinese solution for biomass refining and have strategic significance for achieving the 'dual carbon' goals."

Committee Chairman, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and former president of Jiangnan University, Chen Jian, gave high praise to the project: "This project is based on the major needs of national development, solving the 'chokepoint' problems of resources and industry, promoting green, low-carbon, and circular development, achieving resource recycling, and developing new quality productivity. It is a model with exemplary and leading effects. From an industrial perspective, to achieve self-reliance and strength in high-level technology, the first is to have control over the industry. The significance of this project in replacing imported foreign wood pulp, reducing pollution, and more, all have great economic and social value."

"Technological innovation and multi-sector collaboration are key to addressing the cost issues of enzymes." Chen Jian pointed out that with the development of biologics and enzyme engineering technology, it is now possible to develop more and better enzymes. Through interdisciplinary cooperation, including working with equipment manufacturing companies, we can build industrial chains, capital chains, and value chains. Equipment is a critical part in enzymatic technology; how to integrate well and promote overall technological advancement requires an engineering mindset to improve the project promotion concept system and create a national model of strength. "

Chen Jian stated that the project should further expand its application scenarios, integrate into the national development strategy and the large industrial cluster of the national ecosystem, focus on solving industrial production problems, and connect equipment and process production to form a complete ecological industrial chain.

Deputy Director Sun Jibin of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out: "If high-end wood pulp substitutes can be made, it will not only make better use of straw but also solve the dependence on imports. The overall raw materials are fully utilized, with no waste, and everything is valuable, making commercialization very promising. Tasly and Guotai Digital Liquor Industry, leveraging their own advantages, will play a significant role in promoting the realization of large-scale production of this technology and the intelligent transformation of the entire industry chain."

Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd. has developed a highly active biological enzyme technology for the efficient enzymatic degradation of grain straw using synthetic biology, solving a global technical challenge in the scientific utilization of crop straw. This provides new technology for the green and high-quality use of agricultural grain straw, opens up new avenues for the advanced development of China's agricultural grain straw, and offers a complete set of solutions with independent intellectual property rights to the market.

Multiple benefits: Maximizing the potential of straw

Agricultural products, half in seeds, half in straw. However, while both are resources, seeds are regarded as treasures, while straw is often discarded. Currently, the theoretical resource amount of straw in our country is 977 million tons, with a collectible resource amount of 737 million tons, indicating an abundance of straw resources. At present, straw is mainly utilized through methods such as returning to the field, power generation, pressing into boards, and organic fertilizers. These methods have issues such as low economic benefits, severe industrial pollution, high energy consumption, and large water usage. Therefore, using enzymatic catalysis technology to replace traditional chemical and physical treatment technologies has become an important approach for achieving green utilization and efficient clean production of straw.

How to make better use of straw? An expert said: Lignocellulose is the core component of agricultural and forestry waste such as straw, and the key to its high-value utilization lies in the efficient separation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin (the three components). However, traditional processes suffer from low efficiency in component separation and easy condensation of lignin, leading to serious resource waste. Therefore, the utilization method of straw must achieve a green transformation.

The research project, through a series of enzymatic catalytic reactions, can ultimately convert straw into fiber products and humic acid, among other products. Humic acid is an organic substance that, when applied to fields, can inhibit weed germination while promoting crop growth, with the effect of increasing yields. Fiber products—wood pulp in particular—have always been important raw materials for industrial production.

An industry expert said that the papermaking industry is an important basic raw material industry, but China's paper industry faces a serious shortage of wood pulp. Due to limited domestic forest resources, the self-sufficiency rate of wood pulp production in China is low, and the dependence on imports has always been high, with overseas giants holding the pricing power.

Therefore, for the wood pulp production field, the utilization of agricultural residues is an important direction. This scientific research project, through enzymatic catalytic reactions, can ultimately convert straw into fiber products, which not only helps to solve the problems of low economic benefits and pollution from straw, but also has significant and far-reaching implications for national economic security and technological self-reliance.

Through years of technological breakthroughs, Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd. has made significant progress in straw utilization. A relevant person in charge of the company stated that the three components (fiber, hemicellulose sugar, and lignin) of plant straws such as wheat straw, rice straw, cotton, and corn can be efficiently separated. The entire process uses biocatalytic technology, without the use of chemicals, resulting in no chemical residues in the products. The production process adopts clean production technology, which is a green biomanufacturing technology strongly promoted by the country, with no black liquor produced, meeting national environmental protection requirements.

From the perspective of environmental benefits, first, it reduces straw utilization pollution. The project results can effectively improve the utilization rate of straw, reduce the amount of straw burning, reduce the use of chemical reagents, and decrease pollutant emissions. Secondly, it promotes the recycling of resources. The separation products of straw lignocellulose can be used to produce downstream products of bio-based fibers, achieving the recycling of resources and promoting sustainable development. At the same time, the enzymatic hydrolysate after separation serves as an organic fertilizer substitute, promoting agricultural yield and income increase, achieving a win-win situation for ecological and economic benefits.

From the perspective of social development benefits, on one hand, the implementation of the project drives the development of rural straw collection, transportation, and other industries, promoting rural economic development and rural revitalization, and advancing sustainable rural development. On the other hand, the outcomes of the project promote the technological upgrading of the comprehensive utilization industry of biomass resources, enhancing the overall competitiveness of the industry, and providing strong support for achieving the national "dual carbon" goals and sustainable development strategy, possessing significant social significance and strategic value.

According to the information, this technology has undergone more than ten years of arduous experiments from the initial research concept to the final industrialization. Among them, as a strategic partner of Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemai Technology Co., Ltd., Tasly Group and Guotai Digital Intelligence Liquor Group provided significant support in promoting the scientific research project from the laboratory to a scale of ten thousand tons, assisting the scientific research team in perfecting the industrialization design plan.

Shenzhen Zhongnong Jie Mei Technology Co., Ltd. Chairman Chen Xiaohong stated that the project has threefold benefits. First, it significantly reduces carbon emissions, as the green and low-carbon biocatalytic enzyme technology replaces traditional high-temperature and strong alkali cooking process technology, resulting in notable carbon reduction performance. Second, it substitutes imports, saving foreign exchange. One of the products of this technology, biobased fiber, can replace hardwood pulp, reducing wood pulp imports and decreasing the use of foreign exchange. Third, it substitutes organic fertilizers for chemical fertilizers. The process can produce over 60% of biobased fiber by weight of straw and more than 30% of soluble fulvic acid organic fertilizer, providing an effective way to substitute organic fertilizers for chemical ones.

Heading towards "Qian": "Straw" can increase efficiency

Document No. 2 of Guofa [2022] states: "Leverage the advantages of being the origin and main production area of soy sauce-scented liquor in the Chishui River Basin, and build a nationally important liquor production base." This has pointed out the direction and path for the high-quality development of the liquor industry in Guizhou.

As the second largest wine-making enterprise in Maotai Town, Guotai Digital Intelligent Wine Group has taken the initiative and acted proactively. It is reported that Tashili Group, Guotai Digital Intelligent Wine Group, and Shenzhen Zhongnong Jiemei Technology Co., Ltd. have reached a strategic cooperation. They have initiated research and development on the stalks of red sorghum, specifically used for brewing soy sauce-scented liquor, and the waste straw from the fermentation of daqu, and have achieved research results. This is expected to solve the problem of waste recycling in the brewing industry and address the ecological challenges of the brewing industry.

The 2025 Guizhou Provincial Government Work Report deployed the key tasks for this year. In the section on solidly promoting comprehensive rural revitalization, it proposed "increasing the resource utilization of agricultural waste, with the resource utilization rate of livestock and poultry manure and the comprehensive utilization rate of straw stabilized at over 80% and 86%, respectively."

Taking sorghum straw as an example, the application of this technology has great potential. According to data released by the Zunyi Red Sorghum Industry Association, the total area of land in Zunyi that can be consistently dedicated to sorghum cultivation is 2 million mu. Among this, following the requirements for organic production and crop rotation, the area available for organic sorghum cultivation each year is 1 million mu.

According to the data, the weight of stalks produced per mu of red sorghum can be estimated at about 1.5 tons. Based on this data, the annual production of stalks in Zunyi is approximately 1.5 million tons. Of course, there are also yields of wheat straw, rice straw, and corn stalks, and if this technology can be promoted, the market prospects are promising. If applied in the agricultural field, it will further help farmers increase their income and promote rural revitalization.

Similarly, in the industrial field of liquor brewing, this technology will also play a significant role. Industry experts say that in the brewing of sauce-flavored liquor, there are issues such as high viscosity and difficulty in decomposing lees, as well as the inability to naturally process sorghum stalks and waste rice husks. This technology achieves full-component utilization of sorghum stalks and waste rice husks, employing enzymatic rice husk separation technology, pulp, and fine feed production. By turning waste into treasure, it has changed the long-standing problem of waste recycling in the brewing industry, solving the environmental pollution problems faced by the brewing industry.

More notably, breakthroughs in straw-to-pulp technology will also provide strong technical support for the development of the paper industry. In conjunction with the packaging supporting the Guizhou liquor industry, there is also ample room for development. Data shows that in recent years, Guizhou has established multiple liquor packaging supporting industrial parks, with the provincial packaging supporting rate rapidly increasing and stabilizing at around 80%, and the output value of liquor packaging reaching over ten billion yuan.

An industry expert said that alcohol packaging requires a large amount of wood pulp. Introducing straw lignocellulose biotechnology in Guizhou is expected to enhance Guizhou's technological influence in the production of raw materials for alcohol packaging, and improve the autonomy and controllability of the industrial chain. In addition, local production of pulp can reduce logistics costs and help Guizhou build a supporting industry for brewing.

For a long time, Guotai has genuinely integrated ESG management requirements into the entire business process, incorporated green and intelligent brewing into the corporate development strategy, continuously improved the environmental protection management system, ensured that all types of pollutants are discharged up to standard, and promoted the intensive, green, and sustainable development of the industry through intelligent brewing innovation. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Guotai plans to promote energy conservation and emission reduction through intelligent brewing innovation, improve the comprehensive utilization rate of resources, and reduce the carbon dioxide emissions per unit product by more than 8% compared to traditional brewing methods.

And the in-depth cooperation between Tasly Group, Guotai Digital Intelligent Liquor Group, and Shenzhen Zhongnong Jie Mei Technology Co., Ltd. will further address the ecological challenges of the brewing industry.

Tasly founder and Guotai Digital Intelligence Liquor Group honorary chairman Yan Xijun stated that he believes the domestic research and industry sectors will take this appraisal as a starting point, contributing new strength in China's agricultural modernization, in turning agricultural waste such as straw into valuable resources, resource regeneration and recycling, and the high-quality, high-efficiency utilization of straw. If the experimental production line is promoted nationwide and forms an industrial chain with upstream and downstream sectors, integrating into an ecological industrial park, it will create significant social and economic benefits for Chinese agriculture.

According to the information, the scientific research project will continue to plan for development in the next step, making the downstream industry more valuable and forming a high-value industrial chain to serve society. First, the scientific research project will further develop digital standards for processes, promoting further improvement in workshop production, achieving intelligence and industrialization, and providing a reference for the formulation of unified national standards in the future; second, the scientific research project will further focus on overall planning, forming a closed ecological, unitized industrial park-style industrial model, from the entry point to key enzymatic technology to downstream products, forming three major industries, truly realizing the industrial development of high value-added agricultural technologies, and promoting the upgrading and advancement of the agricultural industry.