Carbon dioxide meat

Artificial meat from microbes and air

Maria Tolmacheva, XX2 century

Lisa Dyson (Lisa Dyson) and John Reed (John Reed), the first — a specialist in physics, the second — in the field of materials science, worked together at Berkeley Lab (Berkeley Lab). They had a common goal — to curb global warming. And they knew that one way to do this was to pay attention to what we eat: agriculture is responsible for a quarter of annual greenhouse gas emissions, and meat farming is responsible for most of the actual agricultural emissions. Despite this, global meat consumption is more than 350 million tons per year and continues to grow. By 2050, the world's population is estimated to reach 10 billion people, which means that we need to find alternative proteins to feed more people.

While searching for alternative sources of protein, Dyson and Reed stumbled upon forgotten NASA research conducted back in the 1960s. In one of the publications of 1967, the methods of feeding astronauts during a long space trip (for example, to Mars) with a limited amount of food were considered. One of the ideas was to produce food by feeding microorganisms with carbon dioxide that astronauts exhale. Since the space program never reached Mars, the idea was not brought to practical implementation. Dyson and Reed decided to bring this concept to life. In 2008, old NASA developments inspired a couple of scientists to create a company called Kiverdi, which uses recycled carbon dioxide and microorganisms to produce products such as an alternative to palm and citrus oil.

In 2019, they also founded Air Protein, a startup whose goal is to produce meat almost from the air. The company takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which heats our planet, and uses it to create a juicy steak or tender salmon fillet. To do this, Air Protein grows special microorganisms in fermentation vats and feeds them a mixture of carbon dioxide, oxygen, minerals, water and nitrogen. The result is a protein-rich flour, the amino acid profile of which is similar to meat protein. Using a combination of pressure, temperature and some additives, the manufacturer can then give the product the texture and taste of meat or fish.

The creators believe that their technology is much safer for the environment than agriculture. Firstly, the process itself is carbon-negative, since carbon dioxide is used for protein production, which Air Protein extracts directly from the atmosphere. Secondly, such protein production requires 1.5 million times less land and 15,000 times less water compared to the production of the same beef.

However, in order for the Air Protein product to actually get on our tables, it will have to become cost-competitive in relation to the meat itself, as well as to its other substitutes, such as soy and mycoprotein, for example. So far, there are problems with this, but Dyson hopes that since the technology does not require significant areas, uses minimal resources and relies on renewable energy sources, it can attract sponsors and give it a chance of success.

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