Industrial Biotechnology was the main focus of Merah Mas, when it was founded in 2007. The aim was to produce biopolymers from organic waste, which at that time was the glycerol waste stream of the biodiesel industry. The biodiesel industry was based on a few flawed assumptions and folded globally, the people in the biodiesel industry in South Africa was, for the most part, unpleasant, and the technology in conventional Industrial Biotechnology was overly reliant on genetic modification, huge energy investment, huge financial investment and huge risk. Nowhere in the Biotech sector did social capital feature as valuable investment, nevermind the unskilled masses that make up 90% of South Africa. Merah Mas is about Cheap and Dirty, and the founder is a pleb with a PhD (well, a pleb on the way to a PhD). This dichotomy resulted in a major existential crisis for the founder, and a steady repositioning of Merah Mas.
In 2011, Merah Mas is going strong, with four focused divisions, and Industrial Biotech still the core, if not the main focus at present. The PhD underlying the IndieBio heart of Merah Mas is gaining momentum too. The pleb is happy. How did this happen?
- The industry focus has changed: The biodiesel industry will not survive in isolation. For one, hoping to address energy (and other) demands without addressing consumer behaviour is inherently flawed. Secondly, the water requirement to irrigate crops and biofuels'inherent footprint needs management. As Dr Ricka Kfir, at the Excellence in Water Research Awards Evening held at the CSIR on 20 October 2010, commented, 'Oil can be replaced by other energy sources – there is no replacement for clean drinking water'. Merah Mas focus shifts to wastewater treatment.
- The Water Industry's people are very pleasant, eager to learn, open to debate and willing to mentor. Merah Mas works in partnerships with these people.
- Wastewater can be treated chemically (generating volumes of waste), biologically (mimicking natural methods) or hopefully (the flush and forget method). South Africa is world leaders in biological nutrient removal. The other world leader is the Netherlands. South Africa and the Netherlands have signed a Water Parnership agreement in April 2010. Merah Mas is invovled in this partnership.
- The nutrients in wastewater can be used to produce valuable products, ranging from biogas to compost to biopolymers (like plastics). Merah Mas's original biopolymer focus is maintained. The high energy requirement and sterile working conditions is not. Cheap and dirty rules.
- Conventional Industrial Biotech assumptions are converging with related, but up to now underexplored areas like WastewaterTreatment Technology - Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering.
- Tech vs social: Transformation is not dependent on Technology. It depends on people. Merah Mas is committed to improving the way people function. We appreciate that people are keystone species, and meant to be on earth. We also appreciate that the blind pursuit of technological advances have created somewhat of a mess. In South Africa, we have to deal with that mess as well as the legacy of Apartheid. We can't improve the quality of life for all South Africans while at the same time wreaking havoc on the environment. We don't need to.
Technical References:
- Tchobanoglous G, Burton FL, Stensel HD, 2003, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment & Reuse (Metcalf & Eddy Inc), 4th ed, McGraw Hill
- Rittmann BE, McCarty PL, 2001, Environmental Biotechnology: Principles and Applications, 1st ed, McGraw Hill
- Henze M, van Loosdrecht MCM, Ekama GA, Brdjanovic D, 2008, Biological Wastewater Treatment: Principles, Modelling and Design, 1st ed, IWA Publishing
- Henze M, Harremoës P, la Cour Jansen J, Arvin E, 2002, Wastewater Treatment: Biological and Chemical Processes, 3rd ed, Springer
- Doran PM, 2002, Bioprocess Engineering Principles, 7th ed, Elsevier Academic Press
- Waites MJ, Morgan NL, Rockey JS, Higton G, 2001, Industrial Microbiology: An Introduction, 1st ed, Blackwell Science
A note on the name: The company is registered as Industrial Biotech. This is mostly associated with genetically modified organisms, which, for various reasons, this company is not interested in. To avoid further confusion, The Biotech division has been renamed to Indigenous Biotech. This fits better with the 'Indie' in IndieBio anyway.