George Monbiot

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Pasi Vainikka on the Solar-Foods-plant in the vicinity of Helsinki

Finnish scientists say a protein "out of Thin Air ", it is in competition with soybean on price within the Decade .

The protein is produced from soil bacteria, the hydrogen-separation from water by Electricity .

The researchers say That if the Electricity comes from solar and wind energy, the food can be grown with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

If your dreams are to be realized, it could help The World tackle many of the problems in connection with agriculture.

When I visited on The Outskirts of Helsinki in the past year, the researchers were able to raise funds for the expansion.

Now say That you have attracted 5. 5m euros of investment, and you say, depending on the power That their costs are the same as for the soybean production by the end of the Decade , perhaps even until 2025.

is Missing in the taste?

I ate a few grains of the precious protein Flour called Solein and tasted nothing of what The Scientists have planned.

you That it is a neutral additive to all types of food.

It is imitate Palm Oil by strengthening cake, Ice Cream , biscuits, pasta, noodles, sauces, or bread. The inventors say it can be used as a medium for the cultivation of Cultured Meat or fish.

It is also nurture cattle could be increased to save you soy, on the ground in the rain forest.

Even if things are going according to Plan – which, of course, you can't – it will take many years, until the protein production is scaled up to the global demand.

But this is just one of many projects on the search for a future of synthesized food.

The company's CEO Pasi Vainikka, studied at the Cranfield University in the UK and is now adjunct professor at the Lappeenranta University.

Space age ideas

He said to me, the ideas behind the technology, originally developed for space travel in the 1960s.

He is committed to his demonstrator system is running a few months behind the times, but says it will be ready by the year 2022. A complete investment decision will come in the year 2023, and if everything goes according to Plan , The First work in the year 2025.

He said: “We are pretty good so far. Once we scale the factory from The First by adding reactors (to ferment protein) and The Amazing , we take into account think we can be in competition with soybean may already be in the year 2025. "

To make Solein, water is "split", using electrolysis to hydrogen. The hydrogen, carbon dioxide from the air and minerals can be fed to bacteria That produce the protein.

A key factor, he said, would be The Price of Electricity . The company expects That , as more renewables come on stream, the costs will decrease.

The progress of this extraordinary technology was praised by the eco-activist George Monbiot , who has GMT in a TV documentary, Apocalypse Cow, aired on Channel 4 in the UK at 22:00 on Wednesday.

hope for The Future ?

Monbiot is generally pessimistic about The Future of The Planet , but says Solar has Foods That gave him hope.

He said: “the food production apart, the ribs, The World of The Living . Fishing and agriculture are, by a long way, the extinction and loss of diversity and abundance of wildlife. Agriculture is one of the main causes of climate collapse.

“But just as hope seemed to evaporate, farm free food " creates amazing opportunities to save both people and The Planet .

“By temporarily switching to a plant-based diet, we can help you to buy, you will save time, species and places.

“But farm free food offers hope, where hope is missing. We will soon be able to feed The World without, it devours. "

the research by the Think Tank RethinkX, the forecasts of the impact of technology-driven disruptions in many species suggests That the proteins of the precision of the fermentation as animal protein by the year 2035.

It forecasts, is the result of the almost complete collapse of the livestock economy, although critics complain That take this into account, to take advantage of the ability of meat producers to feed novel proteins, your own storage.

to identify A consortium of leading scientific, research and academic institutions, has formed, and innovative solutions to combat Climate Change in the context of the agri-food sector.

the conclusion That the microbial was protein many times more efficient than soybean in terms of land use, and only a tenth of That needed so much water.

Another factor, though, will be cultural. Many people always want to chops to eat lamb chops, which look like lamb.

Professor Leon Terry of Cranfield University, told Bbc News there was growing interest from investors in novel foods.

"It is a greater dynamic and investment-round synthetic food," he said. But he asked: "is there really an appetite for their consumption?"

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Source of news: bbc.com