Proteins from Air? Forgotten Space Age Technology could change how we grow Food
Air Protein, a pioneer in producing meat made from elements of the air, was inspired by founder and CEO Dr Lisa Dyson’s mission to build a modern meat company to introduce nutritious, ultra-sustainable, alternative proteins that can sustainably feed the world’s growing population.
Air Protein founded in 2019, uses a unique technology to produce protein in sustainable, vertical “farms” that can be built virtually anywhere on the Planet. Air Protein meat can be produced in days, making it highly scalable and extremely planet friendly.
Based in San Francisco’s Bay Area, Air Protein is a subsidiary of Kiverdi, Inc, a research and technology company working on the science of carbon transformation to create game changing products and systems. Air Protein is a recipient of numerous awards and recognitions and recently received the Technology Pioneer Designation from the World Economic Forum for the company’s contributions in the field of food technology.
Air Protein is sustainable
The resources required to make Air Protein are radically reduced in comparison to conventional animal protein and alternative plant proteins. The United Nation Food and Agricultural Foundation (FAO) predicts farmers will need to increase food production by 70% with only 5% land increase to meet the expected growing population of 10B people by 2050.
Air-based meat offers an elegant solution to that equation. The technology to produce the protein found in air-based meat allows for protein to be made in a matter of days instead of months, and independently of weather conditions or seasons. It is also requires significantly less water and land, allowing farms to expand vertically with geographic flexibility.
Making air-based meat is a little like making yogurt
First, Air Protein starts with elements from the air we breathe – carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen – are combined with water and mineral nutrients. Next, it uses renewable energy and a probiotic production process where cultures convert the elements into nutrients.
Creating a closed-loop carbon cycle
The scientists at NASA considered many ideas about how to grow food in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s during the Apollo space program. Air Protein leveraged some of their ideas and developed a novel technology that is able to make meat out of elements of the air, such as CO2. Now is the time for this technology to go mainstream.
If we want to grow food more sustainably, we need new technology. Dr John Reed, and Dr Dyson thought – what better way to think outside the box than to consider food production on board a spaceship where there is limited space and limited resources? It could be used for future space travel, but, more importantly, it will reshape how we make food here on Earth, enabling us to make protein in a matter of hours and in the most sustainable way – without the use of any arable land.
Air protein uses:
- 5 millionx less land vs. beef
- 15,000x less water vs. beef
- CO2 vs emitting excessive amounts of greenhouses gases
- Enables vertical scaling vs horizontal
How is air-based protein made?
Just like plants. Traditional agriculture already shows us a way of producing food from the elements in the air. By introducing our new air-based agriculture, we are able to transform elements found in the air and convert them into nutritious protein, but in a matter of days instead of months, and without the reliance of agricultural land.
Nutritional benefits
A complete protein
Air Protein flour is a complete protein, containing all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the human diet, with an amino acid profile comparable to animal protein, and double the amount of amino acids compared to protein made from soybeans.
Rich in vitamins & minerals
Rich in vitamins and minerals and jam-packed with nutrients including many B vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B6), including B12 which is crucial for a healthy nervous system, but hard to get in a vegan diet.
Free-from ingredient
No GMO, No Pesticides, No Herbicides, No Hormones, No Antibiotics: Air Protein is produced using ALL natural processes. This not only benefits the final protein product, but avoids any degradation of the environment and surrounding land.
New funding
Air Protein recently announced the successful completion of its US$ 32 million Series A round of fundraising. Air Protein will use the funding to launch an innovation R&D lab, accelerate product development and commercialisation, and to recruit and build a world-class team. The Series A is led by ADM Ventures, Barclays and GV (formerly Google Ventures).
“With this funding, we will be able to accelerate our work towards providing innovative, environmentally-friendly, highly nutritious alternatives that will play an important role in meeting the growing global demand for alternatives to animal protein,” said Dr Dyson.
She added, “We are commercialising a novel technology platform that is capable of scaling to large-scale production to help feed the world’s 10 billion people by the year 2050, in the most sustainable approach available today.”
Source: http://airprotein.com
