Project

 On 22 September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly that China will strive to peak its carbon dioxide (C02) emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Peak carbon and carbon neutrality have been incorporated into the overall design of China's ecological civilization construction, which will have a far-reaching impact on the global energy supply and demand pattern and set the direction of China's future energy and mineral development.

 As one of the world's most widely used synthetic polymers, the annual production of PET is estimated to exceed 50 million tonnes. A large amount of PET plastic is piled up in landfills and oceans or even directly burnt, resulting in a large amount of carbon dioxide being directly emitted into the atmosphere, causing severe environmental pollution and burden, so a large amount of carbon resources are directly wasted, which is not in line with the current energy conservation and emission reduction policy of "carbon peak, carbon neutral," which all countries around the world are actively responding.

 As a non-renewable energy source with limited reserves, oil cannot be used as an energy source for long-term sustainable development. In the era of "carbon peak, carbon neutral," the development of renewable energy is also a significant trend, not only to reduce the world's dependence on imported crude oil b It also in line with the policy of sustainable development.

 As a natural oil-producing microorganism, Rhodoco-cus Opacus can produce large amounts of triacylglycerol (TAG) from a single carbon source (e.g., PET plastic) under excess carbon and nitrogen source limitation. Its ability o effectively combine catabolism and anabolism to produce large amounts of TAG broadens the research prospects for microbial oil production.

 The application of microbial lipids in industry is a promising avenue, but the cost of large-scale industrial production of existing lipids is very high. However, Rhodococcus Opacus uses cheap plastic waste as a raw material, solving the main problem of reducing production costs and producing high-quality microbial oils and fats at a lower cost, contributing to the economic viability of large-scale industrial microbial oil production.

 The use of microbial remediation technology to convert PET plastic waste into renewable microbial oils and fats, thus realizing the conversion of waste carbon resources into renewable energy production, is a new alternative for countries around the world in the face of the energy crisis and response to energy conservation and emission reduction policies.