{"id":20897,"date":"2023-06-14T08:08:38","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T06:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/?p=20897"},"modified":"2024-02-01T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T17:41:14","slug":"lab-grown-meat-impacts-10-to-50-times-more-than-natural-meat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/en\/lab-grown-meat-impacts-10-to-50-times-more-than-natural-meat\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab-grown meat can impact 50 times more than meat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the billion-dollar investments, even in spreading a complacent “green” narrative in the media, the impacts of producing synthetic meat are 10 to 50 times greater than natural meat.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We had already faced how unfounded what was trumped up by supporters of <\/span>lab-grown meat<\/b> about its <\/span>environmental sustainability<\/b>. Now, our estimates, based on the most recent literature collected from the <\/span>Wageningen report<\/span><\/a>, led us to evaluate <\/span>2.5 times the contribution to global warming of artificial meat compared to natural meat<\/b> (consisting of all meat from the different farmed species) <\/span>if all the demand until 2030 was covered by this artificial product <\/b>(leaving unchanged the contemporary production framework).<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we get into the surprising news, let’s clarify why Carni Sostenibili persists in qualifying these products as “<\/span>artificial<\/b>” and does not use the term “<\/span>cell-based<\/b>“, “<\/span>cultured<\/b>“, or “cult<\/span>ivated meat<\/b>“, as recently <\/span>suggested by FAO-WHO<\/span><\/a> in the famous report that illustrates all the hazards deriving from the consumption of such “foods”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Natural meat<\/b> (like all foods) <\/span>consists of cells<\/b>, and their cultivation occurs with natural processes within the animals raised, fed, and cared for this purpose. <\/span>Removing these cells<\/b> and their extracorporeal culture <\/span>is an artificial process<\/b>, such as, for example, the artificial (and thus also legally recognized) instrumental insemination of females of all species.<\/span><\/p>\nDespite #BillionDollar #investments, even in spreading a complacent #GreenNarrative in the media, the impacts of #LabGrownMeat are 10 to 50 times greater than those of natural #Meat. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

The new aspect for which we return to this topic in a short time is that <\/span>a pre-review work<\/span> of a research group at the <\/span>University of California Davis<\/b> was made public on the platform <\/a><\/span>BioRxiv \u00ae<\/b>, which uses much more accurate estimation methods than those used in previous publications and comes to a truly surprising assessment of <\/span>the impacts of lab-grown meat on the environment<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors start with two econometric models (TEA, <\/span>Tecno-Economic Assessment<\/b>), whose diagrams have been recently published in peer-reviewed journals, to derive the process of producing <\/span>lab-grown meat<\/b> as detailed as possible. Compared to previous impact analyses, the authors note that removing <\/span>endotoxins<\/b> from the cell growth medium is one of the key factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, the signatories of the work inform us that “Endotoxins, also known as <\/span>lipopolysaccharides<\/b> (LPS), are a critical component of the outer membrane of <\/span>Gram-negative bacteria<\/b>. Endotoxins contain a <\/span>hydrophilic polysaccharide<\/b> fraction, covalently bound to a <\/span>hydrophobic lipid<\/b> known as <\/span>lipid A<\/b>. Gram-negative bacteria are ubiquitous in the environment and commonly found in tap water. In <\/span>cell cultures<\/b>, the presence of endotoxins can have various effects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, <\/span>at an endotoxin concentration of just 1 ng\/ml, pregnancy success rates are reduced by 3-4 times during in vitro fertilization of human embryos<\/b>. Gram-negative bacteria release small amounts of endotoxin into the environment when they increase and release large amounts when they are inactivated.”<\/span><\/p>\nThe #LabProduction of #LabGrownMeat, or #Artificial Meat, is more impactful on #climate and #environment than #farming. Here's why. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

Purification processes from these ubiquitous endotoxins are expensive regarding resource consumption and environmental impacts<\/b>. They are especially necessary when switching from small cell cultures, such as these, to large reactors intended for <\/span>industrial artificial meat production<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors have constructed three basic scenarios and as many with factors of <\/span>purification from the endotoxins<\/b> of production processes: the inclusion of purification, considered indispensable by scientists, leads to emissions of a minimum of 246 to a maximum of 1,508 CO<\/span>2<\/span>e per kg of product, <\/span>4 to 22 times greater than the median of the data obtainable in the literature<\/b>, related to emissions per kg of boneless, fat-free beef, with the addition of offal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Compared to the kg of natural meat mix currently available on the world market, these impacts are 10 to 50 times greater<\/b>. In light of these results, the authors’ conclusion is lapidary: “Our model contradicts previous studies, suggesting that <\/span>the environmental impact of lab-grown meat is greater than that of conventional beef systems<\/b>, rather than being more environmentally friendly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an important conclusion, given that the <\/span>investments<\/b> have been specifically allocated to this sector assuming that this product will be more <\/span>environmentally friendly<\/b> than beef.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the billion-dollar investments, even in spreading a complacent “green” narrative in the media, the impacts of producing synthetic meat are 10 to 50 times greater than natural meat.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":20898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677,958,2755],"tags":[4275,5409,5410,5412,5414,5408,4715,5411,5413],"class_list":["post-20897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-sustainability-en","category-evolution-culture","category-featured","tag-artificial-meat","tag-artificial-meat-emissions","tag-artificial-meat-emissions-vs-factory-farms","tag-artificial-meat-impacts","tag-biorxiv-en","tag-in-vitro-meat","tag-synthetic-meat","tag-synthetic-meat-co2-emissions","tag-university-of-california-at-davis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t