The startups using new technology to pull carbon dioxide from the air are beginning to use that CO2 to make products like fuel and, in one case, inviting consumers to pay to store it underground as a way to fight climate change . But it can also be an ingredient in food. Solar Foods , a Finland-based company, has developed a process to use renewable electricity and CO2 to produce a healthy ingredient that looks like wheat flour and contains 50% protein. The company is currently gathering data to apply for a food license from the EU later this year and plans to begin commercial production in 2021. “We started to think about what are the preconditions that you could have in order to establish the most environmentally friendly food,” says CEO and cofounder Pasi Vainikka, who previously worked as a researcher at Finland’s national research institute. By using the basic materials of electricity and CO2, they realized, it would be possible to make food that could avoid the massive environmental footprint of agriculture—which comprises everything from land and water use to the emissions from fertilizing crops or raising animals. [Photo: Solar Foods] Food made through fermentation, like beer […]
Would you eat a burger made out of CO2 captured from the air?
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