Companies around the globe are working rapidly to commercialize cultivated meat production technology, which could alleviate pressure on animal farmers and benefit both people and planet.
However, a recent report by Humbird has raised serious environmental concerns with regard to cultured meat production. They evaluated how much energy is required to purify growth medium components – something which often requires using fossil fuels.
1. Energy
As food lab-grown meat science progresses, more companies are working toward commercial viability of this process referred to as cellular agriculture. Cellular agriculture involves growing meat cells instead of raising and slaughtering animals – this will create an eco-friendlier meat industry and potentially decrease our reliance on antibiotics worldwide.
Scientists use stem cells as the building blocks to create a burger, turning them into liver and muscle cells that will then be placed into bioreactors that create an environment similar to meat production, where they will continue their growth until large enough for cutting up and turning into meat products.
Block acknowledges that his process doesn’t necessitate the death of animals, though some cultivated meat companies do use fetal bovine serum from pregnant cows to nourish harvested cells and feed their production line. Although the procedure doesn’t harm either animal involved, Block wishes there was another method available for him to store his harvested cells safely.
Cultivated meat production processes may also benefit the environment because they do not involve contamination issues similar to traditional livestock farming. A sterile environment means no bacteria enter, thus decreasing antibiotic usage for animal feeding purposes – possibly helping address current antibiotic resistance crises.
However, when considering the environmental advantages of cultivated meat production, one major caveat must be taken into account: production energy consumption may have an immense effect on its climate footprint. A 2019 study from Oxford indicates that replacing livestock systems with cultivated meat production before energy generation becomes decarbonized increases the risk that its transition will have long-term negative consequences for climate.
The Oxford study examined two scenarios for the future of cellular meat. One scenario assumed companies will continue purifying media to pharmaceutical levels, leading to emissions increases up to 25 times greater than beef; while another assumed they will move toward food-grade media would result in emissions reduction similar to beef’s present-day emissions levels. Both results depend on various assumptions; as a result there will always be some degree of uncertainty associated with modeling climate impacts associated with this new technology; reporters covering it must make their readers aware of this uncertainty when reporting about this emerging area – especially when one study diverges from another research conducted on this subject matter.
2. Water
Companies producing lab-grown meat are striving to reduce costs when competing to bring products to market, with one way of doing this being using less water in their production process. While this may help mitigate its environmental impact, traditional beef consumption remains significant compared to modern alternatives; ultimately, companies that focus on improving cattle operations using herd genetics and precision grazing management systems will provide better environmental results in the long run.
Cultivated meat not only reduces energy costs but can also lower the risk of E. coli and Salmonella contamination by growing it under controlled laboratory conditions in which there’s no chance of animal feces or cleaning chemicals contaminating it, making it safer than conventional meat options and even gluten-free eaters may enjoy this healthy alternative!
Recent non-peer reviewed research on the environmental impacts of cultivated meat found that its growth medium contains pharmaceutical-grade media, something food manufacturers would likely avoid using. But other research indicates food-grade media can also be used in laboratory meat production; several companies are working towards that solution right now.
Cultivated meat offers many significant advantages, with greenhouse gas emissions from raising cattle, chickens and pigs for consumption accounting for 11-14.5 percent of global climate pollution according to estimates; transitioning from conventional production methods to lab-grown production would reduce these by up to 92%.
Cultivated meat could offer consumers access to species not typically available today, such as wild animals like giraffe or bluefin tuna. However, many scientists consider harvesting meat from rare or endangered species unethical regardless of whether the animals were raised in a lab or on a farm. It’s too soon to tell just how far cultivated meat will replace traditional meat; as the industry expands more consumers may soon have the choice between many animal proteins.
3. Land
Lab-grown meat (also referred to as clean or cultivated meat) has often been promoted as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to raising and slaughtering livestock, with it taking less land and water resources and emitting fewer greenhouse gases than conventional beef production methods. But according to an unpeer-reviewed preprint (not yet peer-reviewed), lab-grown could actually have greater impacts than conventional production using current production methods; purifying growth medium components which cultivate cells requires energy-intensive fossil fuel use which results in more greenhouse gas emissions than raising and slaughtering cattle.
Companies producing cultivated meat are actively trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency improvements. One such way is the creation of cell lines capable of withstanding higher levels of endotoxins found naturally in animal tissues; another approach uses distributed manufacturing models that pair each facility with local renewable energy sources, so cells don’t need to be transported from faraway sites.
But even these improvements may not be sufficient to make cultivated meat an eco-friendlier alternative than raising and slaughtering livestock. According to a 2019 study from Oxford, replacing current livestock systems with lab-grown production prior to energy generation becoming decarbonized increases risk for long-term negative climate impact.
While lab-grown meat could replace animal farmers, plant-based dairy alternatives have already begun doing just that and this trend should continue. Although it brings many benefits, some consumers may remain resistant to trying meat alternatives.
Cultivated meat is becoming more cost-competitive with conventional options, according to a 2021 report from Good Food Institute and CE Delft, and by 2030 will likely be 50% cheaper than beef and 20% less costly than pork.
Although there remains much work to be done, successful production of cultivated meat at scale could drastically lower our environmental impact due to meat consumption worldwide. Furthermore, this would open the possibility for us to explore meats that cannot currently be raised or harvested sustainably such as lion, ostrich and bluefin tuna without depleting wild populations.
4. Emissions
Lab-grown meat investment has gained increasing attention as an environmentally-friendly alternative. Land-based animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions every year, representing an enormous source of pollution when considering that animals raised on conventional factory farms typically live short lives confined in overcrowded conditions for short lives.
Cultivated meat makers also face significant scrutiny from both consumers and regulators alike, however. As more companies produce and sell their products, they will have to contend with increasingly climate-conscious buyers as well as tighter regulations on emissions — particularly if their facilities use fossil fuels or harvest meat with animal byproducts.
As part of their efforts to lower carbon footprints, early-stage startups developing lab-grown meat are seeking alternatives to animal byproducts in their growth media, such as FBS (fetal bovine serum) which comes from slaughterhouses derived from unborn calves killed for milk. Eat Just in San Francisco has started using low levels of FBS while researching an animal-free alternative; Dutch company Mosa Meat has already phased it out altogether.
Cultivated meat could also benefit the environment by diversifying food supplies. While many companies specializing in this field produce common staples like beef, pork and chicken; other firms focus on less conventional meats like elk, bison and Wagyu beef production. Furthermore, scaling up production of new species would relieve pressure off wild fish populations that are currently depleting due to people’s demand.
Lab-grown meat remains in its infancy, and one of the key challenges is cost. Although per-unit costs are currently higher than traditional alternatives, both Upside Foods and Good Meat aim to make their products as cost-effective as conventional menu items.
