Figure 1: Continuos fermenter for our project

To supply our system energy is needed. The electricity is always available through generation via regenerative sources like wind, water or sun light. The second source, carbon dioxide, is produced at nearly every industrial production site which makes it an ideal source. The initial production of the fermenter is quite expensive but the envelope has a high life period. The needed components are for example glass or acrylic glass for the outer envelope, a control unit (for pH, temperature, agitator, exhaust air, inlet air, ...),and a lid with different pins for the control unit, thermometer. To reduce the running costs we think of a continuous fermenting system which increases the application time of the media, the mediator and bacteria (Figure 1). It has to be tested how long materials like electrodes can be used before replacement is needed. The bacteria have to be replaced after two or three weeks because they will get in stationary phase and the amount of dead cells will increase which decreases the efficiency. The media with living and dead bacteria which is extracted out of the fermenter has to be sterilized which result in additional costs. Other costs are for assembly costs, recycling costs and maintenance charges. An additional factor for the financial plan is that the system can be applied at any production site or energy source. This means that the transport costs for the final product are very low. The implementation costs for the car industry will be high at the development stage but by maturing the system the costs will decrease. We aim to generate a business plan with an expert.
The last step for a plausible scenario is a risk assessment.