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Agence France-Presse

At a factory in Finland, the “farmers of the future” are making a new food protein using air and electricity, proving that protein can be produced without traditional agriculture.
Livestock farming is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of global warming.
Cellular agriculture, where food or nutrients are grown from cell cultures, is increasingly seen as a green alternative to animal agriculture.
Lab-grown meat, eggs and milk have made headlines in recent years, with scientists using animal cell cultures – a process some have criticised as unnatural, highly processed, energy-consuming and costly.

But at Solar Foods’ recently opened factory outside Helsinki, scientists are using new technology to grow protein.
By feeding a microbe with carbon dioxide, hydrogen and some minerals, and powering the process with electricity from renewable sources, the company has managed to create a protein-rich powder that can be used as a milk and egg substitute.

“We can source our main feedstock for the microbe from the air,” Solar Foods chief executive Pasi Vainikka says, as he gives a tour of the company’s facilities.
“We have started the production of the world’s most sustainable protein.”
Founded by Vainikka and Juha-Pekka Pitkanen in 2017, Solar Foods launched the “world’s first factory growing food out of thin air” in April.
“Much of the animal-like protein of today can actually be produced through cellular agriculture and we can let agricultural land re-wild and thereby build carbon stock,” Vainikka says, referring to the process whereby forests and soil absorb and store carbon.
Producing one kilogram of the new protein, dubbed “solein”, emits 130 times less greenhouse gases than the same amount of protein from beef production in the European Union, a 2021 scientific study claimed.

Vainikka navigates his way through the factory’s laboratory and into the control room, where a dozen people at computer screens monitor the production process.
“These are our future farmers,” he says.
Transforming food production and consumption is at the heart of combating the climate crisis and preventing biodiversity loss, according to Emilia Nordlund, head of industrial biotechnology and food research at Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre.
Current projections show the consumption of meat is expected to increase in coming years.

“Industrial food production, especially livestock production, is one of the biggest causes of greenhouse gas emissions (and) the biggest cause of biodiversity loss, eutrophication and freshwater usage,” Nordlund says, eutrophication being the process by which water becomes nutrient-rich, leading to excessive growth of algae and other plants.
New food production technologies can help cut emissions and “decentralise and diversify food production”, she says.
“However, at the same time, we must improve the existing food production methods to make them more sustainable and resilient,” she adds.
Fermentation technology used to produce different nutrients, such as proteins, has been around for decades. But the field has expanded significantly in recent years with new technological solutions and research projects emerging worldwide.
Some of the most active start-up hubs focusing on cellular agriculture are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Israel, Nordlund says.

“We are in a crucial phase as we will see which start-ups will survive,” she says, adding that stalling bureaucracy was slowing cellular agriculture’s take-off in the EU.
Dressed in protective gear to prevent bacterial contamination in the factory, Vainikka shows off a giant steel tank in a shiny production hall.
“This is a fermenter holding 20,000 litres [5,300 gallons],” he says, explaining that the microbe multiplies inside the tank as it gets fed the greenhouse gas.
Liquid containing the microbes is continuously extracted from the tank to be processed into the yellowish, protein-rich powder with a flavour described as “nutty” and “creamy”.
“The fermenter produces the same amount of protein per day as 300 milking cows or 50,000 laying hens,” Vainikka says.
That equals “five million meals’ worth of protein per year”.

For now, the main purpose of the small Finnish plant, which employs around 40 people, is to “prove that the technology scales”, so it can attract the necessary investments pending European regulatory approval.
While the protein has been cleared for sale in Singapore, where some restaurants have used it to make ice cream, it is still awaiting classification as a food product in the EU and the US.
To have any real impact, the aim is to “build an industrial plant 100 times the size of this one”, Vainikka says.


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Food and Drinks

‘The world’s most sustainable protein’ made out of air by Finland’s farmers of the future

Food prepared with protein made from air and electricity at Solar Foods’ headquarters in Finland. If approved as food, the sustainable powder, called solein, could help put an end to livestock farming and reduce climate change. Photo: AFP

Food prepared with Solein protein at the Solar Foods headquarters. Photo: AFP

Solar Foods chief executive Pasi Vainikka. Photo: AFP

A technician controls the bioreactor process at Solar Foods’ headquarters. Photo: AFP

A jar containing some of the new protein, which is dubbed “Solein”. Photo: AFP

One of the air filters used to capture carbon dioxide from the air at the Solar Foods headquarters. Photo: AFP

A chef prepares a dessert containing the Solein protein at Solar Foods’ headquarters. Photo: AFP

What is washoku, Japanese cuisine on Unesco heritage list? It depends who you ask

Tonkatsu is one of the most popular Japanese foods. But does this deep-fried pork cutlet, an adaptation from Western cuisine, count as washoku, or Japanese cuisine? Photo: Russell Thomas

Sansada is one of Tokyo’s most famous tempura restaurants. Tempura can be considered washoku despite its foreign roots. Photo: Russell Thomas

Sansanda was founded in 1837. Photo: Russell Thomas

Wax sculptures of Japanised Western cuisine, or yoshoku, outside a restaurant to entice customers. Photo: Russell Thomas

Omurice (rice wrapped in an omelette) is one of the most recognisable dishes of Japan’s yoshoku cuisine. Photo: Russell Thomas

Onigiri rice balls in all their forms, home-made or at a trendy Tokyo cafe like Onigily, may best represent washoku. Photo: Russell Thomas

How Anthony Bourdain’s favourite pork dish, babi guling, or spiced Balinese roast pork, went mainstream

Balinese whole roast pig, known as babi guling, a favourite of late celebrity chef Antony Bourdain, was once served only at religious celebrations and weddings, but is now sold in restaurants across Bali. Photo: Kampoeng Bali

There are almost 200 restaurants in Bali selling babi guling. Photo: Kampoeng Bali

Anak Agung Oka Sinar, owner and founder of Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka in Ubud, where Anthony Bourdain had his pork epiphany almost 20 years ago. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Making babi guling is a long and gruelling process that starts in the early hours of the morning. Photo: Kampoeng Bali

A cooked babi guling after five to six hours roasting on a spit and being basted with coconut water. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Bali swayback pigs at Bali Heritage Pigs. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Doni Marmer eating dinner with his mother and others. Balinese like to eat with family and friends, a practice known as magibun. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

How Indian ice creams offer unique and creative flavours, as Gen Z and millennials drive gourmet and artisanal trends

Dark chocolate and olive oil ice cream at Burma Burma, a Burmese restaurant and tea room brand in India. Photo: Assad Dadan

Avocado and honey ice cream from Burma Burma. Photo: Assad Dadan

Ice cream nachos from The Fat Little Penguin. Photo: The Fat Little Penguin

An ice cream cube cake from The Fat Little Penguin. Photo: The Fat Little Penguin

Kulfi sold in clay pots. Photo: Shutterstock

Honeycomb and sweetcorn ice cream from Burma Burma. Photo: Assad Dadan

Ice cream sandwiches from The Fat Little Penguin. Photo: The Fat Little Penguin

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Lab-grown meat and eggs have attracted controversy in recent years, but Finnish company Solar Foods is making a protein-rich powder using air and electricity
The product could help reduce the need for livestock farming, among the biggest culprits for greenhouse gas emissions. Approval for it as a food is pending


Scientists at Finnish company Solar Foods have figured out how to make protein using air and electricity. If approved as a food, the sustainable product could help reduce global warming.


Science

Future tech

Finland