Increasing environmental challenges have led scientists to rethink how protein can be produced. Traditional processes require a lot of space on land or sea, resulting in a high carbon footprint and reduced resources. A new article in
Chemical & Engineering News
, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, details how some start-ups are revolutionizing protein production by using bacteria to ferment gases.
The consumption of meat-free proteins are gaining popularity around the world, particularly those made from soy and pea crops. Companies are now taking this trend even further with fermentation processes that cultivate protein from starches, sugars or gases, resulting in foods that are more environmentally friendly than meat but contain the same protein content, which could lead to “a paradigm shift in agriculture,” writes Senior Editor Alex Scott. Early reports claim that gas-to-protein processes will require much less time, land and water compared to conventional protein from animals or plants. Experts also say that biomass made with gas fermentation, which contains up to 70% protein, has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially.
Gas-to-protein technology is on the cusp of being commercialized, with several companies working to perfect the processes, which tend to be inefficient and costly. Although the goal is to make healthy, environmentally friendly protein for human consumption, companies are currently testing their approaches by creating animal feed from gases, which could also reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and land use. While cost and efficiency remain a barrier to widespread use of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the air to make protein, experts believe overcoming those factors could lead to a new era in food production.
###
The article, “Can start-ups succeed in making food from the air?,” is freely available
here
.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical
Chemical & Engineering News
. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder
®
and STN
®
), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact
newsroom@acs.org
.
This part of information is sourced from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/acs-cp092320.php
