An international group of scientists from Germany, Italy and Israel discovered that the cultivation of food “from the air” in bioreactors is more efficient than growing crops. In addition, the protein produced in this way was the coronary of traditional crops. The researchers presented their findings in the article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Eating food technology is based on an edible protein of bacteria that produce the necessary nutrients and energy from renewable fuel and air. One such projects is Solar Foods in Finland, within the framework of which the goal is worth building a demonstration plant by 2023. In a new study, scientists compared the effectiveness of the cultivation of soybeans by an agricultural manner with bioreactors.
The experimental system consisted of solar panels for the production of electricity, which, in combination with carbon dioxide, water, water and minerals (nitrogen, phosphorus and gray), is used to produce a nutrient medium in a bioreactor where microbes are grown. The water molecule is subjected to electrolysis with the release of oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is used as an electron donor (for this purpose, formates or ethanol can also be added to the system) for the respiratory system of bacteria. Then the cells of microorganisms are treated, removing nucleic acids, and a single-cellular protein is obtained (Single-Cell Protein, SCP), which is stored in a dry form. Such powder is suitable for consumption by people and animals.
Scientists compared the efficiency of the system with a field of soybean area of ten square kilometers. The analysis showed that the cultivation of food from the air was ten times more efficient than the cultivation of food in the traditional way. In other words, the land plot with an area of ten square kilometers in the Amazon River basin, which was used for the production of agricultural culture, compare with a plot of land with an area of one square kilometer, given under bioreactors. According to the authors of the work, the remaining nine square kilometers is better to give the restoration of tropical ecosystems. The protein itself produced by bacteria has twice as large calorieness than most other crops, such as corn, wheat and rice.