Article
Nick Nuttall
8 w
Food from CO2, water and renewables
By Nick Nuttall
More and more start-ups aim to produce food ingredients using new production processes and without the use of arable land. The idea is also to utilize CO2 from industrial processes. And all without any difference in taste. (this article was orignally published 10 Oct 2024 in Climate Table
The start-up Green-On produces fats, cheese, and other foods without using arable land.
A wide range of food ingredients that are made from products such as palm and coconut oil or fats from the dairy industry could soon disappear from the menu.
Around the world, new companies are entering the market that utilizes CO2 captured from power plants to create new ingredients that have never been near a cow or a farm. The developers claim that their products – including butter and oils used for baking and cooking – taste and work just as well as conventional products.
"I couldn't believe I wasn't eating real butter," said billionaire Bill Gates after participating in a taste test. Gates has invested in a Californian start-up that produces a milk alternative. The Swedish start-up Green-on also claims that people would not notice any difference. Annette Graneli, a former employee of the RISE research institute and now CEO of Green-On, tells Table.Briefings: "Our raw materials are green electricity, water and carbon dioxide."
The Gothenburg-based company plans to have a pilot plant up and running by the end of the year, which will use carbon dioxide that possibly comes from a paper mill. Graneli says her goal is to stop deforestation, reverse biodiversity loss and reduce water scarcity linked to palm and other oil plantations.
The company's head of technology has received an award from the Swedish Chemical Society for producing food without using arable land. The company has secured venture capital for expansion and is supported by AKK, a company that makes oil and fats.
Soy and palm oil have a large ecological footprint
A recent article in Nature Sustainability entitled "Food Without Agriculture" examined this new food technology trend and the potential benefits: "Oilcrops such as soy and palm have an enormous environmental footprint globally." The article states that around 300 million hectares of land are currently used to produce these foods, accounting for an estimated 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land use.
Other companies in this emerging field include Solar Foods in Finland, which conducts a pilot project to produce proteins, and Savor in California, which uses CO2 and hydrogen to make butter.
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5 w
Very innovative,,,,taking the composure together ,,,,and sharing these great news,,,,,kuddos nick💯💯👌👌
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7 w
I think it is important to note that this is not about ending agriculture but offering a new path that might take pressure off the land from some food commodities like fats and oils that are at the heart of many food products we eat without thinking about them much--and thus also giving more time and more chance for agriculture and farmers to adopt more sustainable practices. These new breakthroughs are not silver bullets, but a way of diversifying
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7 w
Great article. It's amazing to read about new food technology and the potential benefits.
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8 w
Wow, super interesting! Hadn't head about these solutions before, thanks for sharing Nick!