Food tech start-up Solar Foods has created a climate-friendly protein-rich food that uses much less water and land than other animal or plant-based foods.
Developed in collaboration with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Solein is made by applying electricity to water to release bubbles of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Living microbes are added to the liquid ? these create protein that is then dried to form a protein-rich powder.
The production model is similar to the fermentation process that is used to make beer. It can be used to produce food "in the desert, arctic or even in space".
According to its makers, Solein is 100 times more climate-friendly than any animal or plant-based alternative, when it comes to water use, land-use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. The company plans to produce enough powder to make two billion meals a year by 2022.
Solein doesn't require arable land or irrigation
It takes 1,550 times as much water to produce the same amount of beef as of Solein, and production of Solein is ten times more efficient than that of soy in terms of usable protein yield per acre.
It doesn't require land or large quantities of water, both of which are likely to become more scarce in the near future.
"Producing Solein is entirely free from agriculture ? it doesn't require arable land or irrigation and isn't limited by climate conditions," said Solar Foods.
"It can be produced anywh...