(DEZ) SMELL THE EMISSIONS AND MICROBES

Air Meat is a meat substitute that has the same texture and taste as animal meat (allegedly)

California-based start-up Air Protein has developed a meat alternative called Air Meat, which is made using microbes that turn recycled carbon dioxide into protein.

Described by Air Protein as "the meat of tomorrow", Air Meat was designed to replicate the flavour and texture of real meat products such as steak. "Our vision is to build the first carbon-negative meat company"

While beef generates 70 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions for every kilogram produced, while also causing widespread deforestation, Air Protein founder Lisa Dyson claims that its protein production emits far less carbon and doesn't require land or animals.

"We look at the analysis from cradle to gate, prior to when the product is consumed," she told dezeen. "On this basis, our vision is to build the first carbon-negative meat company."

Air Protein is among a number of companies, including Finland-based Solar Foods, that are making meat and dairy substitutes from captured emissions in a bid to mitigate the climate impact of agriculture.

However, Air Protein's process makes use of CO2 captured from factories rather than from the atmosphere.

In the future, the company is planning to use direct air capture units to remove CO2 directly from the air.

But regardless of where it comes from, the carbon contained in the steak ultimately re-enters the atmosphere after being eaten, as the consumer exhales it as carbon dioxide through the process of respiration.

This means Air Protein's meat alternative doesn't directly reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Instead, Dyson says its climate potential lies in avoiding emissions and resource use elsewhere.

"The amazing thing about our process is that it can be located virtually anywhere in the world, with no arable land required at all," she said.

Fermentation process mimics yoghurt production

Air Meat was developed using research on converting carbon dioxide into food for space travel that was conducted by NASA in the 1960s.

This found that certain microbes could convert carbon dioxide released by astronauts into a protein when combined with water and energy.

Air Protein makes use of this same process in its manufacturing facility, where the microbes are grown in bioreactors powered by solar and wind energy, hydrogen and oxygen and captured industrial emissions. dezeen (much more to this article) - link - Alice Finney - link - more like this (food) - link - more like this (California) - link