Farming without harming – is food production ready for a change?

Around 30 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases come from the food production value chain. Agriculture, which provide us with much of our food, require enormous resources – both water and land – placing great strain on many parts of the world. Looking at the oceans, the amount of fish that can be caught is also steadily declining. Global catches peaked 20 years ago.

On top of this, everything that happens after the raw materials – meat, fish, vegetables, grains, et cetera – have been collected also has an impact. The production, packaging, distribution, and preparation of food are also energy and resource intensive.

All of this makes food a major challenge for the world. More and more mouths need to be fed, while vital resources such as water and land must be conserved.

Vattenfall is one of the energy companies that has begun to examine the opportunities in this sector, not least by reviewing food producers’ value chains and identifying where the energy company can contribute.

Solein is produced with fossilfree electricity, hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide and consists of 80 per cent protein.

“Our starting point is, of course, to look for value chains in which fossil-free electricity can play an important role to improve the production process and thus reducing CO₂ emissions.” says Vattenfall’s Johan Westin, Senior R&D Engineer, Industry Decarbonisation at Vattenfall R&D. Another area Vattenfall is exploring is increasing local production.

“In general, many countries import a lot of vegetables. That’s why we’ve investigated how to use greenhouses more efficiently and utilise waste heat from various facilities in different ways. Such initiatives already exist in Sweden, but we’d like to do more at a network level. Overall, we are looking at projects with high carbon dioxide savings potential,” says Fredrik’s colleague, Sophie von Kraemer.

Their team at Vattenfall R&D is currently making a study of alternative paths for resource efficient protein production, with the intention to assess the processes’ benefits, challenges and potential interest for Vattenfall. One such path under consideration is the production of proteins based on carbon dioxide and hydrogen that is being developed by some companies.

A powder consisting of 80 per cent protein

Given the conditions and challenges facing food production, any new ways of creating food are valuable. If they can even create edible products from – essentially – thin air, they become even more interesting.

Since 2017, the Finnish company Solar Foods has been developing a protein using a unique method involving a fermentation process similar to that used in beer or wine production. Microbes from the Nordic wilderness are cultivated in a bioreactor using hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide, ultimately becoming a protein that Solar Foods calls Solein. As the process is closed, water, for example, can also be reused.

“I usually compare it to a soda stream,” says Pasi Vainikka, one of the company’s founders. “We ‘bubble’ gas into water causing the microbes to grow. From what is then separated from the liquid, we have a micribial powder consisting of 80 per cent protein.”

Makes a huge impact

The advantage of this protein powder, which for example can substitute for milk or eggs, is that the process uses far less water and land than traditional agriculture. The fact that it is powered by fossil-free electricity is also a major advantage.

“In the future, more than 50 per cent of the environmental impact could come from what we eat. And it’s not only greenhouse gases, but also eutrophication – that is, pollution of waters – land use, loss of carbon stocks in forests, loss of natural habitats, extinction of species. We’d like to do something about that,” Pasi Vainikka says.

A large part of the climate impact of food production today comes from meat, particularly cattle, which both produce large amounts of greenhouse gases and require extensive land and water.

“If we can produce edible calories without massive land use, and use electricity generated without burning fossil fuels, the impact can be huge. Because the use of land, greenhouse gas emissions, and water per kilogram of protein are only a fraction of what is required to produce the same amount of protein from meat.”

It might take time

As with anything new, part of the challenge is changing a deeply ingrained culture. Food is something enjoyable and personal for many people. Replacing one product with another is not always simple; consumer acceptance is not guaranteed.

“If you compare it to the transport sector, the product replacement there is fairly straightforward: you still get a transport service, regardless of how it is powered. The cultural shift is greater when the change is more fundamental for the individual, such as replacing one food product with another. The question is how to get these niche, cutting-edge products to have a greater impact,” says Johan Westin.

At the same time, acceptance is also a matter of time, he believes, as change in behaviour and eating culture requires time to change.

”Curiosity overrides suspicion”

Solar Foods has had Solein approved in a number of markets, primarily in Singapore and the United States, and already has one factory in operation in the Helsinki area, with a second in pre-engineering phase. The company is also awaiting a decision from the EU on whether the protein will be approved closer to home by the end of next year. In Singapore, the company has partnered with a Michelin-starred chef and restaurant Fico, where the protein has been used in a chocolate gelato.

According to Pasi Vainikka, it was not particularly difficult to gain customer acceptance in this context: nine out of ten customers chose Solein ice cream from the short dessert menu without knowing what Solein is. 

“Curiosity often overrides suspicion. That’s part of human nature. But if the texture and taste aren’t right, you will mess up, you will lose customers. That has been a problem for many meat alternatives, for example.”

Rather than consumers, Pasi Vainikka believes there’s another group that needs convincing.

“The challenge, considering our model is business-to-business, is that the food industry is quite conservative. Bringing something completely new to the table takes time.”

The obvious final question then – what does Solein actually taste like? Very subtle, he says:

“Some say it tastes a bit umami, and maybe you can sense a kind of nutty flavour too, but most of all it’s very mild. That’s also the point. Many of the proteins we eat today, like pea or soy protein, have very distinct tastes, which you actually need to cover up in different ways. You don’t need that with Solein.”