agri-food wastes are not utilized as feed. In most of the cases the producer of a
reference product covers the costs of transportation to the farms and thus pays for
the utilization. Such precondition in combination with good nutritional qualities
makes such agri-food wastes (e.g. mill brans, distiller’s dried grains with solubles,
brewery grains, milled pre-consumer waste) an excellent source for single cell and
insect production. Successful application of agri-food wastes could reduce the
environmental impact of food substitutes production with existing technologies
(Fig. 1). Thus, the impact of insect-based food (1 kg) could be decreased to 2 kW h
of energy use, around 1 kg CO 2 eq. of GWP, 1.5 m
2 of land use and 0.1 m
3 of
water use. Single cell production can supply 1 kg of high quality protein food
which would require around 10 kW h, emit 2–4 kg CO 2 eq., occupy 0.5 m
2 of land
and consume 0.25 m
3 of water. Such environmental impact results make insects
and single cell products more sustainable alternatives to meat and other foods.
4 Conclusions
Traditional food substitution with alternative biomass sources is becoming a
necessity to design a more sustainable transition to the new food system. The
current analysis, which included comparison of alternative protein sources
according to the technology readiness level, nutritional profile and environmental
impact, indicated the potential for the substitution of traditional food. Alternative
sources of biomass can be used as food substitutes if their environmental and
economic benefits are assured. It could be done thought the application of agri-food
wastes and further development of production technologies.
The results of the current study indicated that state-of-the-art production of meat
analogs based on milk, mycoproteins, insects and microalgae biomass are not
competitive in terms of environmental impact to the benchmark meat (chicken in
this case). The application of waste and side streams from agri-food production
(molasses, distilled grains, grain brans) could potentially decrease the impact of
insect and single cell products for their use as meat substitutes. Improvement in
technologies for biomass processing is vital for the optimization of analogs based
on single cell products. Similarly, processing stages play high importance for
cellular-based products. However, high impact was associated with the production
of culture media for meat production and raw resources of yeast derived milk,
cheese and eggs. Cellular meat production at current state of TRL has a higher
environmental impact than traditional production meat. With scaling up approach, a
competing potential with beef and pork was shown, but not with chicken. The
application of agri-food waste streams is complicated due to the need of providing a
sterile culture media, although is possible for the cultured media production.
Application of selected agri-food wastes to produce alternative sources of protein
(specifically insects and single cell products) could result in more sustainable source
of proteins able to compete with industrial chicken production.
Agri-Food Waste Streams Utilization for Development …
151
reference product covers the costs of transportation to the farms and thus pays for
the utilization. Such precondition in combination with good nutritional qualities
makes such agri-food wastes (e.g. mill brans, distiller’s dried grains with solubles,
brewery grains, milled pre-consumer waste) an excellent source for single cell and
insect production. Successful application of agri-food wastes could reduce the
environmental impact of food substitutes production with existing technologies
(Fig. 1). Thus, the impact of insect-based food (1 kg) could be decreased to 2 kW h
of energy use, around 1 kg CO 2 eq. of GWP, 1.5 m
2 of land use and 0.1 m
3 of
water use. Single cell production can supply 1 kg of high quality protein food
which would require around 10 kW h, emit 2–4 kg CO 2 eq., occupy 0.5 m
2 of land
and consume 0.25 m
3 of water. Such environmental impact results make insects
and single cell products more sustainable alternatives to meat and other foods.
4 Conclusions
Traditional food substitution with alternative biomass sources is becoming a
necessity to design a more sustainable transition to the new food system. The
current analysis, which included comparison of alternative protein sources
according to the technology readiness level, nutritional profile and environmental
impact, indicated the potential for the substitution of traditional food. Alternative
sources of biomass can be used as food substitutes if their environmental and
economic benefits are assured. It could be done thought the application of agri-food
wastes and further development of production technologies.
The results of the current study indicated that state-of-the-art production of meat
analogs based on milk, mycoproteins, insects and microalgae biomass are not
competitive in terms of environmental impact to the benchmark meat (chicken in
this case). The application of waste and side streams from agri-food production
(molasses, distilled grains, grain brans) could potentially decrease the impact of
insect and single cell products for their use as meat substitutes. Improvement in
technologies for biomass processing is vital for the optimization of analogs based
on single cell products. Similarly, processing stages play high importance for
cellular-based products. However, high impact was associated with the production
of culture media for meat production and raw resources of yeast derived milk,
cheese and eggs. Cellular meat production at current state of TRL has a higher
environmental impact than traditional production meat. With scaling up approach, a
competing potential with beef and pork was shown, but not with chicken. The
application of agri-food waste streams is complicated due to the need of providing a
sterile culture media, although is possible for the cultured media production.
Application of selected agri-food wastes to produce alternative sources of protein
(specifically insects and single cell products) could result in more sustainable source
of proteins able to compete with industrial chicken production.
Agri-Food Waste Streams Utilization for Development …
151