The United Nations estimates the world population to boom in the coming decades and reach up to 10 billion people by 2050, which is 20% more than the current population. With that in mind, a Bay Area start-up uses a new technology that can make meat from air and bacteria.
Air Protein, the Bay Area start-up, is using a proprietary probiotic process that transforms carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen and combines it with organisms called hydrogentrophs and water. It will be fermented using renewable energy — solar power — to produce artificial meat.
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Former physicist Lisa Dyson and material scientist John Reed were working together at the Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab to help curb climate change and found a way through developing a novel method of producing food. Previous studies show that agriculture is responsible for a quarter of the greenhouse gases produced every year, especially the meat industry.
But they were unsure how to solve this problem not until they came across a forgotten NASA research from 1967 that explored ways of feeding astronauts during a long space journey that only involves combining microbes and carbon dioxide that astronauts are breathing out. Since it never made it to Mars, the project had not been fully implemented.
Wired reported that the two scientists founded Kiverdi in 2008, using recycled carbon dioxide to make a microbe-based alternative to palm oil and citrus oil. By 2019, they introduced Air Protein based in California to produce meat out of thin air.
Air Protein uses a process similar to how yogurt is made. They cultivate hydrogenotrophic microbes inside a fermentation and feed them with carbon dioxide, oxygen, minerals, nitrogen, and water. The by-product of this is a protein-rich flour that has a similar amino acid profile as a meat protein.
Dyson said that they add culinary techniques, such as a combination of pressure, temperature, and cooking techniques, to turn the flour into a steak or a tender chicken. The new technology is environment-friendly because it uses a carbon-negative process and consumes 1.5 million times less land and water than beef production.
What Does It Taste Like?
Dyson, the founder and CEO of Air Protein, said their air-based protein flour is a neutral ingredient. It is versatile and can be added to many formulations, Food Business News reported. It can also be used to make very flavorful air-based meats.
The company aims to deliver a range of food by combining the ultra-sustainability and high nutritious content of their new protein ingredient with flavors and textures that customers will love.
Highly Scalable Way of Making Sustainable Protein
According to New Food magazine, there is no doubt that the new technology will be met with skepticism because it appears complicated and expensive. But Dyson pointed out that it is a highly scalable way of making very sustainable protein.
The company believes that since they are using a renewable source, which is cheaper than others, they are following some of the macro-trends that make this economically attractive in making meat in a sustainable way. She added that as the company scales up the technology, this will become the most superior protein source in sustainability, nutrition, and economics.
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Check out more news and information on Lab Grown Meat in Science Times.
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